Little Insane Gudako
by revdb
Summary: On that fateful night, instead of a certain King of Knights coming to save his life, he gets a small girl that flips his world upside down. Features child Gudako. Inspired by the artwork of young Gudako by 拉麺企鵝.
1. Chapter 1

The boy was flung into the shed with bone-crushing force.

He was fairly sure that he had already died once that night, pierced through the heart by that blood red spear. From the looks of it, he was going to die again in the exact same way.

 _'I don't want to die.'_

He wasn't going to let this man in a ridiculous blue bodysuit kill him...

 _'I don't want to die.'_

He hadn't saved anyone yet. Not a single one!

 _'I don't want to die!'_

Magical energy flared, kicking up dust, and he could hear sounds of a punch connecting, eliciting a grunt from the blue spearman.

When the dust cleared, he saw a young girl, about eight or nine years old staring back at him. He was mesmerized by those eyes that looked exactly the same as his own.

Actually, now that he thought about it, her hair color was also the same as his own, the same shade of red-orange just like his. Her hair was tied in a side ponytail with a bunny hair tie, and she had some cowlicks sticking up from the other side. She was wearing what looked like a uniform of some sort, a white dress with two black straps across her chest, with black leggings as well.

The single word that came out of her mouth would turn the world of Emiya Shirou upside down.

"Papa?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Papa?"

Shirou's mind momentarily blanked out, completely forgetting the fact that he was currently in a life-or-death situation involving a spearman in a blue bodysuit.

His eyes widened as he saw a red spear coming right at his head. Fortunately, the little girl was faster, and she quickly threw herself and her papa out of the way of the incoming blow.

"Tch, I missed." the blue spearman grumbled as he yanked his weapon out of the ground, before noticing the small girl standing between him and the target. "What the hell? What's with the brat?"

"I won't let you hurt papa."

"You're awfully young to be having a kid already. Guess you're more of a man than I thought."

Shirou was about to speak up but his self-proclaimed daughter beat him to the punch.

"Go away, Lancer. Leave papa alone."

Shirou tried to get up, but was quickly stopped by a quick glare from the girl.

Lancer's eyes widened for a moment before he frowned.

"You're a Servant. This makes things complicated. You see, I don't really enjoy killing children."

Lancer spun his spear and got into his combat stance.

"But I'm sure you already know that as Servants, we have to fight!"

In a blink of an eye, Lancer had closed the gap and was swinging his weapon at her neck, aiming to slice her head clean off.

Only to find his spear stopped in its tracks by a set of Black Keys that suddenly appeared in her hands.

"Bad doggy. Shoo, shoo."

The girl pushed the spear away with her own weapons. In each of her hands were a trio of Black Keys, each giving off a crimson, verdant, or azure glow.

Lancer eyed the Keys suspiciously. He was pretty sure that they weren't supposed to glow red, blue or green. And he took a moment to consider what she had called him. Normally he would be insulted if someone called him a dog, but that means that she might have known his True Name in the first place. It could have been a simple coincidence.

But if an enemy Servant knew his True Name this early in the war, then they had to be put down right away.

The girl threw her blades at Lancer, leaving streaks of red, blue and green in their wakes. Lancer spun his spear, skillfully parrying them all. As a veteran of battle, he noticed that each Black Key had a different trait.

The crimson ones flew with incredible force. Every time he parried one, he thought the amount of force from the projectile would make him drop his weapon.

The verdant ones flew blindingly fast. If he didn't raise his weapon in time, then they would surely sink into his flesh.

The azure ones flew with unerring accuracy. They didn't fly unnaturally fast, or land with incredible force, but each and every blue Key was aimed at a vital point on his body. Some of them were aimed at his major organs, arteries and pressure points. Several were aimed at the head. He swore some of them were aimed at his crotch, but he couldn't be sure in the heat of battle.

The fact that they each Black Key flew at different speeds despite being thrown at the same time would have surely thrown off any inferior combatant, but he was able to safely avoid them all with his Protection from Arrows skill, which seem to apply to flying Black Keys in this scenario.

"You're strong, girl. What class are you?" Lancer asked.

"...Master." the girl replied.

"I've never heard of such a thing. But then again, it doesn't really matter, does it?" Lancer roared and charged again.

Surprisingly, the girl charged in barehanded. She pointed her fingers at Lancer as if firing a gun.

"Gandr."

A black bolt of energy suddenly fired from her fingertip, hitting Lancer in the chest and tearing through Magic Resistance easily.

"W-what the hell?!" Lancer was surprised that the spell had any effect. It didn't hurt at all, but he suddenly couldn't feel his body.

She took this moment of reprieve to pull out her smartphone and call out a Servant. Her Gandr was a powerful stunning move that could easily stop even the knight classes dead in their tracks, bypassing their Magic Resistance, but it had a long cooldown before it could be used again, so each shot had to count.

Her fingers tapped the phone quickly and was rewarded with a sight for sore eyes. She had no Servants or Saint Quartz at the moment, but sitting in her Gift Box was one of her first Servants and friend, Artoria the Knight Princess.

"Come, Saber Lily!" With a shout, a Chaldea-style summoning circle burned itself into the ground and exploded, revealing a young woman in a white dress-like armor.

She quickly turned around and saw her young Master standing in front of her papa.

"Master Gudako? Emiya-senpai?" Saber Lily asked in confusion.

"Chase off Mister Cu, please."

Cu Chulainn was completely bewildered as he shook off the effects of the Gandr. "What the hell?"

"I'm sorry, Mister Cu, but I must do this!" Drawing Caliburn, she charged at Cu.

The two exchanged blows, sparks flying as Caliburn clashed with Gae Bolg. Unfortunately, she wasn't as experienced as her older counterpart, and was slowly forced onto the defensive.

Lancer started to get tired of everything. What was supposed to be a simple task of killing the red-haired kid suddenly got very complicated.

"Well if you already know my name, then there's not much point in hiding this anymore, am I right?"

Gae Bolg flared to life as the air was filled with crimson bloodlust.

"If I can get rid of even one of you today, then that's good enough for me!"

"Emergency Evade."

 **"Gae Bolg!"**

The Chaldean Mystic Code was much, much faster than the extremely obvious startup sequence of Gae Bolg, which Gudako had already seen many times before. The spear of death was aimed perfectly at Saber's heart, but at the last moment it inexplicably missed. The look on Lancer's face was priceless.

Taking advantage of Lancer's shock, Saber lifted Caliburn, only to accidentally hit Lancer between the legs with the flat of her blade.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Saber Lily fretted over Cu's prone form laying on the ground, clutching his precious balls. "This happened because I slacked off on my training! I'm so ashamed of myself right now!"

Lancer slowly picked himself off the ground. "S-so you dodged my undodgeable blow, Saber. D-don't think I'm done with you just yet! Damn it all, I've gone and revealed my trump card just like that. This isn't over, you hear me?!"

With that, he jumped away before astralizing.

"Should I chase after him, Master?" Saber Lily asked.

"No, papa is more important. Cu won't die even if he's killed."

Artoria and Gudako helped Shirou up and pulled him back into the house.

"W-what's going on?" Shirou asked. The fatigue of the events tonight was quickly starting to catch up to him.

"Hush, papa. Everything will be alright." Gudako replied as she laid her father on the floor of the living room and threw a blanket over him.

"Master, I sense another Servant approaching. What are your orders?" Saber Lily asked.

"Go fight them off. I'll stay here and watch over papa. Come back if anything goes wrong."

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this, Rin? I still think it's unnecessary." Archer asked as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop with Rin in his arms.

"After what it cost to save him, I'm not going to let him die to Lancer again!"

Archer landed on a street near the Emiya residence and Rin immediately started running.

"Wait, Rin! I sense another Servant here!"

Rin stopped and turned as she saw a Servant dressed in white leaping at her, golden sword drawn and ready to cut her down. Before she could do so, however, Archer jumped in with his own twin swords drawn and parried the blow.

Archer rushed to attack, only for his eyes to widen as he realized who he was fighting. Saber Lily took advantage of the opening with a vicious counter, sending Archer sliding back towards Rin.

"T-this is a Saber-class Servant..." Rin whispered in awe, as she took in the appearance of the beautiful Princess Knight.

Saber Lily's eyes also went wide when she noticed who she was fighting.

"E-Emiya-senpai?"

Archer's jaw dropped at the casual reveal.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't realize it was you! You just wanted to visit your old house, right? Here, come with me. We weren't expecting any visitors at this hour but we'll make your stay comfortable!" Saber Lily rambled as she dragged a bewildered Archer and Rin back into the Emiya residence.

* * *

"Master, we're back!" Saber Lily announced as the trio entered through the front door.

"Welcome back, Artoria. Who did you bring with-"

Rin and Gudako stared at each other for what seemed like forever. Although Rin had never seen this girl before in her life, she couldn't help but feel like this was someone that was supposed to be familiar to her, someone that she wanted to protect. Gudako, on the other hand, just had one word to say.

The single word that came out of her mouth would turn the world of Tohsaka Rin upside down.

"Mama?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Mama?"

Rin's mind momentarily blanked out, completely forgetting the fact that she was in the home of an enemy Master, where they could theoretically be struck down on a whim if the enemy chose to do so.

"Mama?"

Gudako asked again as she walked up and tugged on Rin's sleeve.

Rin fainted.

* * *

Archer sat at the table with his face in his hands as he struggled to take in the current situation, which involved his past self, his Master, and his time-traveling daughter from the future.

Firstly, after Rin had fainted, his daughter (Was she his daughter? Shirou and Archer were genetically the same person, so confusing!) had dragged Rin next to Shirou and made them press their bodies together, claiming "that's what mama and papa did every night" before pulling the blanket over them both.

Meanwhile, Saber Lily (who Archer recognized on some level as "his" Saber, but a different existence, alternate selves could be confusing), came out of the kitchen with some tea.

"Here you go, Emiya-senpai!" Saber Lily poured out some tea and cheerfully handed it over to Archer with a smile.

Her demeanor threw him off for a moment there, as he usually associated Saber with a strong and stoic woman. Seeing her younger self act so cheerful and upbeat, for lack of a better term, disoriented him.

"Emiya-senpai? Are you okay?"

He caught himself staring off into space as Saber Lily was looking worriedly at him.

"Ah, sorry. I was just lost in my thoughts." Archer replied as he took the offered tea and took a sip. "This is good tea," he complimented.

She seemed to brighten up at his words. "Thank you, Emiya-senpai!" Archer looked up to see a beaming Saber Lily. "After all, you were the one to show me how to do it properly..." she mumbled quietly, though Archer could still catch her words and- wait, was she blushing?

Somehow, that simple exchange left him with more questions than before.

As he was drowning in his own thoughts, Gudako snuck up and sat herself down on his lap.

"Papa." she greeted.

Archer raised an eyebrow. "Isn't your papa down there?" Archer replied while pointing at Shirou laying on the ground, trying to sound as nonchalant as he could. Meanwhile, Saber Lily had decided to quietly leave so the two could have some time alone.

"Silly papa, you're papa too." Gudako replied. She pulled herself up and ruffled Archer's hair. "See?"

Gudako pulled out a smartphone, a rather futuristic-looking one, Archer noted, and snapped a picture of him. Looking at his own picture, even he couldn't deny that he looked the same as Emiya Shirou when his hair was down, courtesy of his own daughter.

"I...I suppose I am." Emiya ran his hand through his daughter's hair... and suddenly recoiled in horror as he realized his daughter was a Servant.

 _Why is she a Servant?! She's so young!_ he was internally screaming to himself.

"What's your name, child?" Archer asked as he took in deep breaths.

"Fujimaru Ritsuka. Everyone calls me Gudako-chan though."

Archer raised an eyebrow. He was expecting her last name to be Emiya or even Tohsaka given that Rin would probably just strong-arm Shirou into giving their daughter her last name.

"Clock Tower." Gudako replied.

"Yes, that would make sense." Archer settled down in his seat. A child born between two surviving Masters of a Holy Grail War would likely draw attention. Shirou probably wouldn't care too much if his daughter didn't take the name of Emiya, but for Rin to have her daughter abandon the Tohsaka name...she must truly love her child to go as far as to abandon that prestigious family name.

"And how old are you now?"

"I'm nine.

 _What sort of thing would be required for a nine year old to get recognized as a Heroic Spirit in this day and age?!_

He hoped his daughter didn't have some stupidly dangerous job, such as commanding an army of Servants and having them fight to prevent humanity from getting incinerated or something like that.

 _Yeah right, she's nine years old. Surely they wouldn't make a child do such a ridiculous thing like that._

"Now, can you explain why you are a Servant?"

He didn't even notice that his daughter was a Servant until she was practically on top of him.

Gudako noticed the odd look her papa was giving her.

"Don't worry, papa. I'm not dead. Even I don't know why I'm a Servant here."

Archer let go of a breath he didn't even know he was holding. He had thought that his daughter had died young, but thankfully that wasn't the case.

Now that he confirmed that he had descendants, at least in some realities, he sure hoped that they weren't genetically predisposed to have distorted mindsets. He didn't want to know what would happen with a bunch of Emiya descendants running around with Reality Marbles.

He had a million questions that he wanted to ask, but he decided to just keep things simple for now. He was sure that he would get answers eventually. Rin and Shirou weren't up yet anyways.

"That's good to hear. Although I wonder what kind of Noble Phantasm this daughter of mine would have?" Archer replied as he continued to run his hand through her hair.

"That's a secret, papa. I can do this, though."

Gudako held out one of her hands, her face contorted into a look of pure focus.

 _Judging the concept of creation._

An image of a white Chinese falchion floated into her mind.

 _Hypothesizing_ _the basic structure._

Even without a Reality Marble, this particular sword was very familiar to her. After all, she had gotten to see this blade up close many many times in the past.

 _Duplicating the composition material._

Without the Unlimited Blade Works to instantly provide the material to work with, she could only forge the sword with materials that she had personally seen and understood. However, she's seen more than her fair share of rare crafting materials and reagents on her adventures across eras.

 _Imitating the skill of its making._

Gudako never saw the original blades that Archer saw. She has only seen the projected copies of this particular weapon. Therefore, you could say that she is making a fake of a fake.

 _Sympathizing with the experience of its growth._

Since she only saw the version of the blades that were used by Archer and Shirou, she wouldn't see the history of the weapon being wielded by their original owner, but instead she would see the history of them being wielded by her papas instead.

 _Reproducing the accumulated years._

Since the projected swords she saw were generally short-lived, Gudako's own projection didn't have much history behind them.

 _Excelling every manufacturing process._

As long as it was a sword made by human hands, she would be able to attempt to project it after analyzing its structure. Of course, she would never be as good at it as her papa, but that's okay.

 _Shrink the basic structure._

Her own final step of projection was to reduce the size of the weapon via alteration. Simply reducing the size was very simple and made the overall process easier as well.

"Trace...on."

A copy of Kanshou formed in her hands, its size closer to a large dagger than a short sword so she could use it more easily. She handed the small sword to Archer, who had a surprised look on his face.

Taking the weapon, he was surprised to find that the sword didn't have a hollow existence. The history of this particular copy stated that the original blade was created through Tracing (no doubt his daughter had watched him fight with the blades), and included memories of his own fighting style mixed into it. Clearly, this wasn't a simple Projection but it was properly created through his own method of Tracing, even if the origin of the sword was incorrect.

"You really are my daughter." Archer could only shake his head with a small smile on his lips while his daughter preened herself at the praise.

He was feeling proud of the girl. Despite claiming to have no pride, he couldn't help himself.

Whether he liked it or not, this child was breaking down the barriers in his heart. Here he was, sitting in the enemy base and sipping tea while talking to a daughter he didn't know existed. Meanwhile he was letting his own Master sleep on the ground, defenseless. Despite all that, he relaxed his guard. He couldn't sense any hint of aggression, and his supposed "enemies" were also totally relaxed. What a strange Grail War he was summoned to this time.

"Ah, I have this too."

Gudako pulled out a small pendant. The familiar-looking gem proved to Archer beyond all doubt that she was indeed his daughter.

In response, Archer pulled out his own copy of the pendant.

"So it's getting passed down as a family heirloom. How fitting."

Then Archer noticed that her pendant was densely loaded with prana like some sort of bomb. He was pretty sure a jewel that size wasn't supposed to carry that much magical energy, there was no way the jewel could be loaded with that much prana unless you had like a dozen Casters and some alchemists at your beck and call or something like that.

At that moment, Saber Lily returned with some bowls of beef over rice.

"Late night snack, anyone?" she called out as she put the food down.

"Japanese food?" Archer questioned. He was pretty sure King Arthur never tasted Japanese food in life, or knew how to actually prepare the dishes.

"I made it myself!"

Meanwhile Gudako looked like this was the most normal thing in the world.

A sudden realization stuck him at that same moment. If his daughter and Saber were present, and there was only one other Master here, then who was supposed to be the third Master?

He supposed that question could be answered later, seeing how none of them were trying to kill each other. For once he could be at peace.

Archer took a bite of the simple dish.

"It's good." EMIYA complimented.

Artoria beamed.

* * *

Rin slowly regained consciousness, but was reluctant to open her eyes as she was hugging something that was very warm and comfortable. She ended up snuggling deeper into it, dozing off as she listened to the sound of a heartbeat.

Wait, heartbeat?

Now that she thought about it, she could hear a distinct breathing sound as well.

She reluctantly opened her eyes and looked into the sleeping face of one Emiya Shirou.

She fainted once more, her face the same shade of red as a certain pair of pendants that a father-daughter pair carried on them.


	4. Chapter 4

Shirou slowly opened his eyes as he awoke from his nap. How long had he been out, one or two hours? The last thing he remembered was a little girl and some lady in white fighting that man in a blue bodysuit.

He was about to look up to check the clock until he noticed that his arm was pressed between two squishy things.

"Eh?"

Shirou visibly paled as he tried to pull his arm away, which had the side effect of waking up Rin.

* * *

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Thankfully the Bounded Field around the Emiya estate kept sounds inside, otherwise the screaming would have woken up the neighborhood.

"Ah, you two are finally up."

The two blushing teens turned to see a smirking Archer and two giggling girls who were apparently gathered around the table and ...eating dinner?

"Oi, don't blame me. If you're going to blame anyone, blame it on this daughter of yours." Archer replied to a glaring Rin while pointing at Gudako.

"Daugh...ter?" The minds of the two Masters blanked out again at the mention of their future child.

"Apparently this idiot over there," Archer pointed at Shirou, "managed to summon your own future daughter as a Servant."

"A...a child with Emiya-kun?"

Rin's blush went atomic as she started hyperventilating while Shirou turned and covered his face as his body seemed to be shaking uncontrollably.

"Get a grip on yourselves, you two!" Archer walked up and flicked them both on the forehead.

"Mou...what was that for, Archer?"

"We're not even in a fight and you're already freaking out this much. Seriously, what a troublesome Master I have."

"Wait, hold on." Shirou interrupted. "Why is Tohsaka in my house and why was she sleeping next to me?" The two teens blushed again. "And who are you guys?"

Everyone else looked at each other.

"He's totally clueless, isn't he?" Rin asked.

"Papa is still an idiot right now."

Now Rin could realistically believe this girl was her daughter.

Shirou felt like an arrow just stabbed through his chest. Comments from little kids could be downright scathing!

"Everyone should come and sit down." Archer motioned towards the dinner table. "This is going to take a while."

* * *

 _After introductions and a long explanation later..._

* * *

"Okay, so I've somehow summoned what is supposed to be the spirit of a dead hero from the past or future and now I have to fight against other Masters and Servants to the death, for the right to make a wish on this Holy Grail."

"Sounds about right, yes." Rin replied.

She took a deep breath before slamming her hands down on the table.

"How in the world did an amateur magus like you summon a Saber?!"

"Hey, I'm not totally useless! I can do some...strengthening magecraft... I guess..."

Rin faceplanted on the table.

"I can't believe you of all people would get to summon the strongest class..." Rin sighed.

"Strongest class?" Shirou asked.

"The Saber class is generally regarded as the strongest class, since they usually have the strongest Magic Resistance that makes most Casters useless, and they also tend to come with the best stats as well." Rin pointed at Saber Lily as she made her point.

"That's nice, but I didn't summon her."

...

"Can you say that again, please?"

"I didn't summon her, I summoned her first." Shirou replied as he motioned at Gudako, who was sitting on his lap.

"Yeah, papa summoned me."

"What." It wasn't a question, it was more like a statement. "Then...who summoned her?!" Rin shouted as she frantically waved her hand at Saber Lily again.

"I did." Gudako held up her hand, which had 3 Command Seals.

"But...but you're a Servant?"

"I'm also still alive and I'm from the future."

Not a dead hero, check.

Came from the future, check.

Can summon and control other Servants, check.

"Wow, she broke several rules just by existing." Shirou spoke up, secretly impressed.

"Muahaha, rule breaker." Gudako added.

Archer thought he was seeing some golden archer for a second there, but quickly pushed the thought out of his mind.

He had slicked his hair back again after making a bet with his daughter to see how long it would take the two to realize who he actually was. Since his daughter was present in this war, he honestly doubted that he would have to kill his younger self. Until then, he would continue to hide his identity.

"What class are you then?" Rin asked weakly.

"I'm a Master."

"What?" Rin asked in confusion.

"I mean, my class is Master."

Heroic Spirit of the Servant, reserved for heroes who accomplished great deeds in life as a Master that commanded Servants. The only reason you don't see those around is because no one else had ever actually done such a thing.

Rin sighed again. She found herself sighing a lot recently, and she certainly wasn't expecting Emiya of all people to be capable of summoning one of the dreaded irregular classes.

"So, Emiya-kun. Will you be participating in the War?"

Shirou was in deep thought, but Gudako beat him to the punch.

"Of course he will."

"Eh? Why?"

"Because he's an idiot."

"Hrk!" Shirou really felt that one as her words stabbed through his heart. The others could only barely restrain their own laughter.

"Well, I guess I'll participate in this war. I won't let any innocents be harmed, so if I have to join this war then I will."

He thought he heard Archer go 'tsk' for a moment there, but he just thought he was imagining things.

"You know... we'll have to be enemies once this War officially starts." Rin replied while looking a tad nervous.

"What, why? Couldn't we be allies or something?"

"Hmph, how can you know if I'll decide to backstab you when your guard is down?"

"I know you're a nice person, Tohsaka, that's why I really like you." Shirou said with a perfectly straight face.

"Wa...wawawawawa?!"

Rin's face was so red it might as well have been on fire. The worst part was that Shirou said that with a completely straight face! "How can you say that while looking so serious, you...you idiot!"

Now Gudako could really believe that this woman was her mama.

Archer cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"If we're to be allies, we might as well get him to the church and get him registered."

"Church?" Shirou asked.

"That's right, the overseer of the War is there. Personally I don't like him that much, we should try to get in and out as soon as possible."

"Eh? Isn't it kind of far? And it's already so late."

"Tomorrow is a Sunday so it should be fine. If we head out quickly, we should be able to get back here by dawn."

Rin stands up.

"Okay, it's settled. We're going now!" she declares with an evil smile.

 _It's like she's going to enjoy dragging me through town..._ Shirou groans to himself.

* * *

It's already one in the morning as Shirou and Rin start walking down the streets. Archer and Gudako had elected to stay demateralized, while Saber Lily did not in order to be prepared to guard at a moment's notice.

Obviously, Saber Lily couldn't just walk around in that white dress, so she had to change her clothes. Shirou offered to give her a bright yellow raincoat, but apparently Gudako had a spare outfit which she pulled out of her phone (further cementing the fact that she was indeed from the future), which consisted of a black cap, blue jacket, black shorts, boots, and a long scarf. Saber Lily visibly brightened at this, claiming that it was a parting gift from "X-sensei", whoever that was. It was modern enough, and then they set out.

"Hey, Tohsaka, are we going to walk to the other town?"

"Yeah, the buses and trains have already stopped running. But a walk at night like this is nice, don't you think? Besides, we could always call a taxi."

"That's true, but isn't it dangerous for girls to walk outside at night?"

Rin gives him a deadpan stare.

"You do realize we have three Servants surrounding us, right?"

"Ah, right." Shirou awkwardly scratches his head as Saber Lily giggles.

"That's right, I swore to my Master that I would protect her with my life, and of course that extends to her parents as well." Saber Lily says with a smile.

The mention of being parents made the pair blush again.

Shirou swore that he could _feel_ Archer's smirk, even if he couldn't actually see him.

At least Saber seemed friendly enough, though seeing her slam her sword into that blue spearman's crotch certainly left an impression on him.

"We can take this road here; it's a shortcut to the bridge." he gestured, and the others followed him.

Soon, they made it to the park, which leads to the bridge.

"Wow, I didn't know about this shortcut. Since it leads to the park, it'll lead to the bridge as well."

Seeing Rin's face looking up at the bridge, Shirou thought it was even more beautiful than usual, but quickly pushed that thought out of his mind.

"Come on, let's go!" Rin shouts as she makes her way up, snapping Shirou out of his stupor.

The walk across the bridge was uneventful. People usually took public transport to the other town, so the bridge itself was rarely used. At this hour, it was completely empty.

* * *

They made their way over to Shinto, where Rin takes the lead once more.

The roads were hilly and you could get a nice view of the sea. As they climb up the hill, Rin speaks up again.

"The church is up there. Have you ever been there, Emiya-kun?"

"I can't say I have. I do know it was an orphanage, though."

"I think it still is, actually."

For some reason, Shirou's mind conjures up a scene out of a horror movie, where the orphans are actually kept in the basement and used as prana batteries. Shaking his head a bit, he clears his mind of such thoughts. If he didn't know better, he might have thought that he was seeing visions of the future or something.

 _Yeah, right_ _._

"Emiya-kun, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got lost in my thoughts for a moment there."

"The priest there can be difficult to deal with. You had better prepare yourself."

 _Difficult to deal with? I wonder what that means..._

Then they reached it, a church on top of the hills. It was a tall structure, towering over its visitors.

 _To think I'd be entering a sacred ground to join a war of all things._

Archer and Gudako materialized as they approached the entrance.

"I think it would be best if we stayed outside of the church, Master." Archer intoned.

"Yes, I'll be right outside too. I don't think Servants are supposed to enter neutral ground." Saber Lily added.

"Actually, she might be able to get away with it. I believe she has a skill that suppresses her presence as a Servant." Archer added, pointing to Gudako.

"Her? Is that really okay?" Shirou asked.

"If Archer says so, then it should be fine. Don't worry, even the weakest of Servants have the strength to crush bones. But since you're my daughter, you can't be anything but strong, right?" Rin said, eliciting a nod from Gudako.

Looks like even Rin was proud of her future progeny.

"Alright, if that's the case then we'll be going." Shirou stepped up to the entrance and pushed the doors open.


	5. Chapter 5

"So, what kind of man is this priest?" Shirou speaks up as they enter the church.

"It's a bit strange, actually. I've known him for ten years, but I still can't tell what sort of person he is."

"Huh, is he a relative or something?"

"Actually, he's my guardian and my teacher of magecraft."

"I thought priests weren't allowed to practice magecraft? Magi and the church don't get along too well, I thought."

"That's true, I find it strange as well..."

"So what was this priest's name? You mentioned Kotomine or something like that."

Rin turns around with an uncomfortable expression.

"His name is Kotomine Kirei. He was a student of my father, and we've been in this sort of relationship for ten years now. I wish I never met him, though."

"Well, I never asked for an apprentice that does not respect her teacher."

The priest walked forward from the other side of the altar.

"You."

Everyone looked down at Gudako, who had apparently decided to speak up.

"Muscle priest." she spoke while pointing at the priest. She had a strange unreadable expression on her face.

"...what?"

Even Kotomine looked bewildered at this sudden declaration.

"And who might this little lady be?" the priest asked.

"I'm Ritsuka, and this is mama and papa."

Shirou and Rin looked positively mortified. Clearly they didn't think things through all the way before bringing the little Servant into the church.

"Rin."

The priest seemed to be choosing his next words carefully.

"I am...surprised...that you have kept this secret from me for this long."

"No no no! Ritsuka here is nine years old already, so I can't possibly have, you know!"

"Yes, that makes sense. I apologize for jumping to conclusions." Kotomine gave a small bow as an apology, though it was pretty clear that he didn't mean it at all.

"Now, I see that you have brought the seventh Master. Tell me, what is your name?"

"...Emiya Shirou."

For some reason, this man makes him feel uneasy.

"Emiya... I thank you for bringing Rin here. If it were not for you, she would not have come."

Kirei steps away from the altar. Rin quickly steps aside and scoots close to Shirou.

"Let us begin, then. Emiya Shirou, you are Saber's Master, correct?"

Rin shoots him a glance before he quickly replies. "Yes, that's right. Although if this is a war between magi, surely there are people better suited for this than I am."

Kirei looks at Rin, and she starts talking. "I told you he's a beginner. So you should go over what the war is. That's your job, isn't it?"

"So that's how it is. I think I understand now."

Kirei turns his eyes to Shirou and laughs, which makes him feel like squirming for some reason.

"This is the first time you've depended on me for something, Rin. I can never thank you enough, Emiya Shirou. Now listen, the role of Master isn't something you can just give away. This who are marked by the Command Spells are chosen by the Holy Grail and cannot resign. You must accept that fact."

Shirou just nods silently.

"Being a Master is a trial for you. And you won't be released from it until you obtain the Holy Grail. If you do, all will be as you desire, Emiya Shirou. Your wishes, even cleaning out all the mud inside of you, is possible. Yes, it is even possible to start everything over again. If you wish to erase those burns that cannot be seen, all you have to do is to accept that holy mark."

Flashes of fire and death rush through the mind of Emiya Shirou. He clutches his head as he starts to wobble on his feet.

"Kirei, don't go off topic. I asked you to explain the rules, not to open up his old wounds."

Rin pulls his arm to her chest protectively and he quickly begins to calm down. Gudako is also staring daggers at the priest.

"Hmph, very well. Basically, the Holy Grail War is a ritual to determine who is the most suited for obtaining the Grail."

"Wait, so we're killing each other just for that?! Couldn't we all just share it?"

"Because of its greatness, one must endure such a trial in order to prove themselves worthy of the Grail. Also, only one person has the right to obtain the Holy Grail. It is not something decided by us, but rather it is something that is chosen by the Grail itself. That is why it isn't something that can simply be shared."

Shirou looks down on the Command Seals etched into his hand.

"I suppose I'm in this war, then. But surely we don't have to kill other Masters." Shirou asks, while looking at Rin.

"No one says you have to, but at the same time, no one would willingly want to hold themselves back. After all, no matter how powerful a Servant is, they'll fade once the Master dies." Kirei explains.

"And also, aren't you worried about what someone might do if they get their hands on the Grail? Perhaps someone unscrupulous."

 _Clearly he's trying to goad a reaction out of me,_ Shirou thought.

"Or, maybe you wouldn't want to see a repeat of that fire that happened ten years ago."

 _Wait, what?_

Images of hell flare through his head once again.

"Impossible, that can't be -"

His vision blurs and his body wobbles as he begins to feel sick.

"Emiya-kun, are you alright? You're completely pale, we can take a break if you want." Rin puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. He's never seen her with a worried expression like that before.

"Don't worry, I feel better after seeing your face." He manages to speak up after forcing himself to take several deep breaths.

"H-hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Rin looks flustered but it was completely lost on Shirou.

"I wasn't implying anything, I mean it literally so don't worry about it." Shirou decides to add.

For some reason, she decides to smack him in the back of the head. Somehow, it makes him feel better.

"...thanks. You really did help, so don't bully me too much."

Rin just huffs and turns her face away, but her blush was plainly visible for all to see.

 _Huh, I wonder if Tohsaka is sick or something...maybe I should try to finish up this conversation so we can get back home sooner._

Kirei speaks up first.

"If you don't have anymore questions, then that will be the end of our conversation. When there is only one Master and Servant left, the Holy Grail should appear before you. Tell me your decision regarding whether you are joining this Holy Grail War, now."

Shirou takes a deep breath. Gudako gives his hand a reassuring squeeze.

Deep down, he was already ready when he decided to walk the path of a magus and become a hero.

"I will fight as a Master, if that means I can stop the tragedy from ten years ago from repeating itself."

The priest looks at him with satisfaction.

"Very well. I will accept you as the Master of Saber. From this moment, the Holy Grail War has officially begun. From now until only one Master remains, everyone will fight with their life and pride on the line."

"In that case, can I ask you a question too?" Rin speaks up.

"I don't mind. This is your last chance before the War starts, so I'll answer most of your questions."

"You're the overseer, so you should have some information on the other Masters. Could you tell me what you know?"

"I would tell you, but I don't know the details either. There are not many legitimate magi at this time. I only know of two, or three if you count Emiya Shirou."

"Then can you at least tell us the order that the Servants were summoned?"

"Hmm...Berserker was first. Caster came second, the rest are the same. Archer was summoned yesterday, and Saber was only recently."

"So that means-"

"Yes, Rin. With that, the Holy Grail War has officially started. You are not allowed to come to this church until the war is over. That applies to you too, Emiya Shirou."

"So I can only come here if I lose my Servant and wish for protection, right?"

"Yes, that's correct."

Rin turns around.

"Very well then. Come on Shirou, we're leaving."

With that she immediately starts walking towards the exit.

"Wait, shouldn't you at least say your farewells?" Shirou asks.

"I don't care. I feel rather relieved from breaking my ties with him. More importantly, you should leave too, and Ritsuka-chan as well. You have no business here now." With that, she reaches the door and leaves.

Shirou turns and leaves with Gudako holding his hand, but suddenly stops as he feels a presence behind him. He turns to see Kotomine Kirei staring back at him.

"W-what? Do you have anything else you want to say to me?" The man's gaze makes him feel jumpy, though Gudako doesn't seem to have any problems matching his stare.

"Rejoice, boy. You wish will finally come true."

Shirou freezes in his tracks.

"You know what I mean. After all, you can't protect something if there is nothing to protect."

"!"

No matter how he spins it, he can't deny that the words of the priest rings true. After all, wishing for something to protect also means wishing for something to violate it.

"Well, it's a good thing you have enemies now." the priest adds nonchalantly.

Gudako's comforting touch snaps Shirou out of his daze.

"Farewell, Emiya Shirou. This will be my last warning, but take care the girl and yourself on your way home. Your world will change completely from now on.

You are now at the point of kill or be killed. That is what it means to be a Master."

Shirou nods curtly and quickly makes his way towards the exit. Gudako stares at the man for several more seconds before she turns away as well. Soon the church is silent once again as the doors close.

"Emiya Shirou. What an interesting person you are, summoning an irregular Servant like that. I look forward to seeing your exploits."

With that, he turned around, only to stand completely still as he looks at the ground.

There was a big plate of mapo tofu on the ground, skewered by several Black Keys.

Despite all of his experience as an Executor, he couldn't stop the sinking feeling of dread in his stomach.

* * *

Gudako smirked at her not-so-subtle death threat she left on the ground before she left.

"Emiya-senpai! Is your business done here?" Saber Lily asks.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm officially in this thing now, so I look forward to working with you." Shirou smiles warmly and sticks out his hand, and Saber takes his hand and shakes it.

"You might not directly be my Master, but I'll say it again. I swore to be my Master's sword first and foremost, but that applies to her father and mother as well."

Rin was taken completely by surprise. It wasn't every day that a Servant would swear loyalty to a potentially hostile Master. But this war was turning out to be anything but normal, and it had literally just started!

"I'll be in your care then, Saber. And you too, Ritsuka-chan." Shirou nods as they start walking.

Though he was extremely reluctant to let a child fight his battles for him, he had no choice but to get over it. He'd already saw how he was utterly outclassed by a Servant, and he couldn't save people if he was dead.

Rin coughed into her hand.

"It's nice to see that we're all getting along."

"It's actually quite nice. So are we still going to be allies, Tohsaka?" Shirou gives a warm smile that makes her blush.

"W-well I already gave you my word, didn't I?" She stuck out her hand and they shook on it. Archer was standing in the corner grumbling something about 'this particular Rin being easily manipulated'.

Gudako's phone vibrated and she pulled it out and tapped on the screen.

"Okay, you're in my friends list now. Whenever we're in trouble I'll be sure to summon Archer to fight for us."

"Wait, what?" Archer asked in disbelief.

"I can summon the Servant of any Master that we're allied with. It's one of my skills."

Rin and Archer were truly speechless. Teleportation was a feat that usually cost a Command Seal to pull off.

If Gudako willed it, she could immediately call Archer to her side? That was ridiculous! And from what she was implying, she could summon any Servant as long as they belonged to a friendly Master.

"What a terrifying ability." Archer commented. "But this also leads to a massive tactical advantage. Since we're allied, we'll likely be fighting together, preferably double-teaming against the enemy to secure victory."

"Yes, we should get ready to hunt down another Master soon. After all, this war has truly started now."

Seeing this made Shirou realize that despite her recent out-of-character behavior, she was still a magus through and through, being able to talk about hunting other Masters casually like that.

"Very well then, I'll be disappearing. Call me if you need me." Archer states before he vanishes.

"I suppose it would be good for me to conceal myself too." Saber Lily adds before vanishing just like Archer.

Gudako grabs both of her parents' hands as they continue walking, making them blush as thoughts of parenthood filled their brains.

The walk back was relatively uneventful. If an outsider saw them, they would have saw two (really young) parents peacefully taking their daughter on a walk.

As they slowly approach a fork in the road, Rin suddenly speaks up.

"You know, even if we both make it to the very end, we'll still have to fight each other."

A few seconds of silence passed.

"I know. But even so, you helped me when you didn't have to. Even if you're greedy, unapproachable, and a little bit cranky sometimes, you helped me anyway. That's why I think you're a good person."

"Hmph, even if you flatter me, I won't go easy on you."

"I know. But I don't want to be enemies with you if I can help it. I like people like you."

"Wha-" Rin suddenly falls silent.

"*cough* A-anyway, just run back to the church if your Servant gets killed. At least you'll be safe."

Gudako was watching the exchange between her parents with great interest.

Shirou just smiled. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

Rin looked down and mumbled something that was barely audible.

"A good person, huh? But... I'm really not..." For the briefest of moments, she looked almost ashamed of herself.

 **"Hey, have you finished talking?"**

A voice of a young girl rang out suddenly.

The approaching forms of a young girl and a giant man could be seen under the moonlight.

The girl gives a small curtsy.

"Hello, onii-chan. I believe this is the second time we've met?"


	6. Chapter 6

**The first fanfiction of many writers don't tend to be their best work. I'm planning on slowly rewriting Insane Gudako since I believe that the writing could be better, although I don't really have any problems with the content itself. I can assure you that Insane Gudako won't be a dead fic.**

* * *

"Hello, onii-chan. I don't believe this is the first time we've met?"

The massive contrast between the innocent form of the girl and the hulking giant of a man that was Berserker rooted Rin and Shirou to the spot. Not just their bodies, but their minds were also frozen as well.

"This is Heracles, the strongest Servant. Why am I telling you his name, you might ask? It's because you have no hope of defeating him."

"As expected...he surpasses Saber in raw power." Rin manages to shake her mind free of that crippling paralysis and assess the situation as calmly as she can.

She murmurs something quietly to Archer, and his lingering presence seems to disappear.

"Emiya-kun, you can choose to run or fight. But try to run away if you can."

"Are you kidding? There's no way I'm going to run." Shirou replies as Saber Lily immediately materializes in front of him, ditching her modern outfit in favor of her usual armor.

"Are you done yet? I would like to start now." The young girl with white hair speaks up.

"Auntie Illya." Gudako finally speaks up.

She walks up to Illya and hugs her. Much to everyone's surprise, Berserker made no attempt to stop her from doing so.

"Papa, that's your older sister."

"W-what? I have a sister?!" Shirou's reaction was to be expected.

"Wait, when she called you onii-chan, she meant it literally?!" Rin exclaimed.

Illya grit her teeth in anger as she thought Kiritsugu didn't even bother to introduce her to this random boy he abandoned her for. To her, this was just more proof that her daddy really had forgotten about her after all.

"Of course." Illya does a small curtsy as she introduces herself. "Nice to meet you, Rin. My name is Illya. Or perhaps you would recognize the name Illyasviel von Einzbern. Though I am surprised that you would already have a child with my onii-chan." Behind her cheerful mask was barely concealed rage. Who knew her brother was so irresponsible, bedding the Tohsaka head like that?

Gudako bows back and replies before Rin could speak up. "Hello, Illya obaa-chan."

"O-obaa-chan?!" A tick mark forms on her forehead as you can visibly see her trembling. People thinking she was young was common. She could deal with that. But no one had _ever_ referred to her as an obaa-chan!

Plus, her adopted brother took away her family, so guess what? She was going to take away his family now!

Lifting her hand, she gives her command.

"Go, Berserker. Kill them all!"

* * *

The massive form of Berserker shoots forward like a missile, crossing a ridiculous distance from the top of the hill in a single leap.

"Master, Emiya-senpai, stay back!" Saber Lily calls out as she readies Caliburn.

As Berserker begins his charge, he is immediately shot down by a hail of arrows.

Multiple explosions occurred as the arrows fell, the shots looking like they were fired from a machine gun than being shot from a bow. Each shot had enough force to tear through a building...

...and yet Berserker ignored them as though they didn't exist.

He swings his giant stone axe-sword down as Saber intercepts with her own golden blade, sparks flying as the two weapons grind against each other.

Berserker's incredible strength pushes down on Saber, but she does not yield. Gathering all her magical energy into her limbs-

"Mana Burst!"

In that instant, she repels Berserker's weapon and forces him to step backward. Everyone looks awed at Saber's presence, even Illya, as her white outfit reflects the moonlight.

Archer takes this opening and sends another salvo of arrows flying from who-knows-where. They all hit Berserker in the face, but even a headshot doesn't seem to affect him.

Picking up his axe-sword, he swats Saber aside, sending her flying.

"Saber!" Shirou calls out, not realizing that Gudako was still standing behind Illya.

"Archer, keep firing!" Rin commands as she throws a handful of black jewels at Berserker. The magecraft and arrows rain down on him, but they don't even slow the giant down as he raises his weapon with the intent to reduce Saber into a smear on the ground.

"Go, Heracles! Rin and Archer can't get past your Noble Phantasm!"

Berserker swings his weapon down. Or he would have, if Gudako didn't decide to swing at Illya with a Black Key.

If Heracles was anything like the one back in Chaldea, he would come running the moment he felt his Master's distress.

She had aimed off target on purpose, as she didn't want to hurt her aunt Illya if she could help it, all she wanted was to get Berserker to not smash Saber into bits. Of course, Berserker didn't know that, as he immediately abandoned his attack on Saber and used his incredible speed to try and shield Illya with his body.

She summoned a Black Key and swung it down, right in front of Illya's face. The blade shot right past Illya's eyes, shearing off several of her hairs.

Everyone froze at the attempted assassination attempt.

"Are you...Assassin?" Illya's usual attitude of confidence and security were completely shattered. She was visibly shaken, her body completely frozen to the spot. Her life had flashed through her eyes when she saw her own reflection as that Black Key flew past her field of vision.

"Um, no." Gudako replied.

 _I overdid it a bit,_ she thought to herself.

Berserker was no longer rampaging aggressively as he did earlier. Even through the Mad Enhancement, he was wary now that someone had proved to be a viable threat to his Master.

"▂▂▃▃▂▂."

Berserker let out a low growl.

"Come on, Saber, lets show them our true power."

* * *

"My core is twisted in madness."

The familiar corkscrew shape emerged as Caladbolg II formed in his hand.

He stared at the familiar sword-arrow for a few seconds.

"Tch."

He dropped Caladbolg and let it fade away. He didn't have the heart to shoot it anymore. From what he could see in this timeline, there was probably no need to kill this particular Emiya Shirou anyways.

Suddenly, he felt a yanking sensation on his entire being. In the blink of an eye, he was warped from the top of a skyscraper a few kilometers away right next to Saber.

Much to his shock, he could no longer feel a connection to Rin anymore. It had been severed and he was effectively bonded to Gudako for the duration of this battle now. He turned around to see Rin with a frantic expression as she stared at her Command Seals on her hand, which had all turned gray. Meanwhile, Shirou seemed to be clutching his head for some reason, but he could worry about that later.

"Ah, you're here, Archer." Saber spoke up. Archer turned his eyes upward, and saw a big +SUPPORT flag floating right next to his head for some reason.

 _Is this part of Ritsuka's Noble Phantasm?_ he wondered.

Turning back to face Berserker once more, he found that his body wasn't entirely under his control anymore as Kanshou and Bakuya projected themselves into his hands.

"Oi, oi. You can't really expect me to match Berserker with swords, right?" Archer asked nervously.

"Don't worry, I have complete confidence in you," Gudako replied as her Command Cards appeared in front of her.

"Get ready, Archer. Arts-Quick-Arts." she said, no, she _ordered_ him more like a commander of an army than how a typical magus would order their Servant around.

His body began moving on its own, charging forward with Kanshou and Bakuya in hand. He brought his swords down for a triple combo, slashing once with each sword followed up with a stab. Much to everyone's surprise, and Illya's shock, the swords cut into Berserker's skin and was causing real damage. Berserker swung his weapon at him, but Archer quickly backed away and projected his bow, showering Berserker with arrows as his Quick card took effect. Once again, the attack seemed to work as they managed to pierce into Berserker's hard skin, sending Critical Stars flying everywhere.

Archer charged in again, something that would normally be considered suicidal, and unleashed his other Arts attack as he hit Berserker with a wide sweeping motion with his blades, noticing that his attacks seemed to be empowering his Reality Marble for some reason. Once more, he jumped back as Berserker tried to hit him again. He unleashed his Extra attack, the Triple-Linked Crane Wings, as he projected more copies of his blades and flung them at his enemy before rushing in for a final slash, causing blood and Critical Stars to spill out of Berserker.

* * *

Illya was completely dumbfounded as she watched an _Archer with swords_ cut up her precious Berserker and get away with it! This wasn't how it was supposed to go! Exterminating her onii-chan and the Tohsaka girl was supposed to be simple. No one was supposed to be able to stand up to Heracles, and yet this random Archer whose arrows couldn't even scratch her Berserker was suddenly able to cut him with _swords_ when Saber couldn't even do such a thing. And it was seriously starting to piss her off.

Meanwhile, Rin was staring at her red Archer in awe. How did he get so strong? And what were those weird yellow stars that came out whenever Archer landed a hit? Rin watched as the stars were absorbed by Saber and Archer, with Archer absorbing more of them. Could it be that Gudako's ability as a Master-class Servant was empowering them?

She was so caught up in her thinking that she didn't notice that Shirou was clutching his head in pain the whole time.

"▂▂▃▃▅▅ーーー！！"

Berserker charged forward with his massive axe-sword in hand, intent on crushing the red Archer who somehow gained the power to cut through his God Hand. Gudako simply countered by triggering Archer's Eye of the Mind (True). As the usually passive skill was activated, Archer found that he could track Berserker's movements much better and was able to evade every single attack.

While Archer was busy running for his life, Gudako quickly took command of Saber. Eye of the Mind wasn't a long-lasting skill, as it could only linger for 1 turn before it wore off.

"Saber, let's go!"

Saber immediately activated her Mana Burst as her Master empowered her with Instant Enhancement from her Mystic Code. She automatically carried out her Master's orders, their bond from working together for a long time allowing them to communicate this sort of thing almost instantly. Forcing prana to flood her legs, she kicked off the ground and flew at Berserker, kicking off her combo with a Buster attack to the torso. Swinging Caliburn with all of her strength, she left a massive gash into Berserker's chest before following up with an Arts attack, which was two weaker slashes.

Taking advantage of Berserker's moment of weakness, she pulled Caliburn back and stabbed. The sword attack, backed by Mana Burst and her Master's buffs, nailed a critical hit as she drove her blade into his heart. Everyone, except for Gudako and Saber, froze as they had accomplished the unthinkable.

"Saber, Archer, pull back!" Gudako ordered.

As the two Servants retreated to a safe distance, Berserker's flesh began to glow red as all his wounds knit themselves back together, including his pierced heart. After a few moments, Berserker gave off a loud howl as he finished reviving himself.

"...to think you could take one of Berserker's lives without releasing your Noble Phantasms..." Illya looked at her opponents with a look of interest and a twinge of fear.

"I have a better opinion of you guys now. Come on, Berserker, we're leaving."

"What? You're running away after all of this?" Rin questions as Gudako releases her hold on Archer's Saint Graph.

"Of course. I thought this would be boring, but that isn't the case anymore. Your Servants are all interesting," Illya sent a glance towards Gudako, "so I'll let you live for a bit longer."

The giant lifts Illya onto his shoulders and walks away. As they disappear, Illya leaves one last parting message.

"Goodbye, onii-chan. Let's play again later, okay?" Shirou's headache had only started fading after Gudako had relinquished her control over Archer.

"Master! Is everyone alright?" Saber Lily quickly ran back to check on the others as Archer was still catching his breath from trying to dodge everything Berserker was throwing at him.

"I'm fine. Are you okay, papa, mama?"

Shirou nodded his head as he tried to sort out the sudden influx of knowledge from a sea of blades that had taken his brain by storm for some reason. "Yes, I'm fine Ritsuka-chan."

Rin nodded her head as well. "It's thanks to you that we're still alive right now. Good job, musume." she pet Gudako on the head as her daughter hugged her.

She decided to not tell her mama that they would have been really screwed if Illya had decided to stay.

"Eh, what's that?" Archer saw a glowing treasure chest on the ground where Illya was previously standing.

Gudako's eyes lit up as she sprinted over to the chest and pried its lid off.

Inside the chest was 10 Saint Quartz.

"Ehehehe...Quartz..."

 _They really are related!_ Archer thought to himself. Gudako's face was exactly the same as Rin's face whenever she saw lots of jewels or cash!

"Hm? What's this?" Rin picked up a Saint Quartz and promptly choked on her spit at the amount of mana the little crystal was packing.

"*cough* What the *cough* what in the name of the root is this?!"

"My Quartz." Gudako swiped the Quartz out of Rin's hand and started petting it.

Everyone else just looked at each other. Usually Gudako was quiet and didn't talk much. Who knew she could get riled up like this?

"We should probably get home and rest up. I mean, you three worked hard out there earlier." Shirou praised the Servants for a job well done, even if he wasn't expecting to learn that he had a sister. Looks like that's one more person he should try to save.

"Alright. Come on, then." Archer started walking back to Shirou's house, with Saber Lily following right behind him. The two teens nodded and began walking as well.

Gudako carefully stashed her ten Quartz away in her smartphone and was about to leave before something caught her eye.

There was a lock of Illya's hair on the ground that somehow didn't get blown away in the earlier fight. She picked it up and stared at it for a few seconds, before stashing it away as well.


	7. Chapter 7

**If you haven't realized it yet, there's going to be spoilers since I'm using material from JP F/GO, if you only play the NA version and don't want spoilers you'll probably want to skip out on this story. Also I'm going with "every servant in the gacha is summoned to Chaldea" as canon for this story, since having more characters to work with is a lot more fun. Today's chapter will be a bit shorter.**

* * *

The walk back home was uneventful, although Rin kept pestering her daughter about her Saint Quartz in her classical magus mindset. She pulled one out for her mama to hold, and Rin started rambling on about "this jewel is worth enough money to buy a house" and other financial jargon.

Eventually they figured that it would be better for their Servants to rush them home as they weren't in any condition to fight and staying out in the open was dangerous. Archer carried Rin in his arms as usual while Saber Lily did the same for Shirou (much to his embarrassment) and Gudako latched onto her back. With the speed of a Servant, they made it back to the Emiya estate within a few minutes.

"Hey, Tohsaka. Did you want to spend the night here?" Shirou offered. "It's pretty dangerous outside, and I have plenty of rooms."

"Well, I-" Rin was cut off by Gudako staring at her with puppy eyes.

"I guess if it's just for one night, it'll be okay..." Rin slowly replied.

"That's great. You and Archer can help yourselves to any room you want. My room is over here, and the bathroom is..."

The three Servants watched Shirou and Rin walked off.

Archer looked at Gudako in disbelief.

"You have her wrapped around your finger already. I can't believe this, she won't listen to me but she'll listen to someone else's Servant. What a cruel Master I have." Archer said in his signature sarcastic drawl while Saber Lily just giggled.

"I'm going to go fix the yard now." Gudako said while pointing toward the yard, which was littered with holes and gouge marks.

Archer watched as his daughter projected a shovel into her hands and began filling in all the holes in the yard. Saber Lily had snuck off into the kitchen again to make tea.

He decided to take the task of guarding the two Masters upon himself as he stood in place and looked out for any threats.

With her newfound Servant strength, this level of manual labor was nothing to her as she filled in all the holes in the yard quickly. Soon enough, Saber Lily came out with some tea and the three Servants were sitting at the table together once more.

"This is boring." said Gudako, who wasn't used to not having to sleep.

"Having a bit of peace and quiet is a good thing, though. We don't usually get that sort of luxury during Singularities. Everyone worries about you, Master." Saber Lily replied.

"I know. You're all like my second family. I still wonder why we're here, though. Sometimes when I go to sleep, I wake up in strange places, although I always make it back sooner or later."

Archer was having trouble following the conversation between the two. Clearly, he was out of the loop here.

"At least you get to see your mama and papa here, even for a bit. Hopefully after humanity is restored, they'll let you go back home."

Truthfully, everyone in Chaldea felt bad that the young girl was forced to carry the fate of humanity on her shoulders. No one missed how her eyes would occasionally have a sad look that had no business being on the face of a nine-year-old. After all, you can't have a child face off against Servants, Demon Pillars, and other life-or-death situations and expect her to emerge unscathed. Fortunately, she was made out of really tough stuff much like her parents.

All the Servants and staff of Chaldea also tried to give her as much of a happy childhood as they could, and Doctor Romani and Da Vinci often arranged to set aside spare Saint Quartz in an effort to summon Servants that were closer to the age of the young Master. EMIYA lamented the fact that she was the last remaining Master and tried to raise the girl as well as he could despite his lack of parental experience, at least until a certain pair of tsundere goddesses showed up in Chaldea.

"I'm rather confused by what's going on. Did something happen in the future?" Archer asked.

"Let's just say...the future for humanity isn't exactly bright. It's a long story, maybe if Gudako here wants to summon more Servants, we can tell you about it." Saber Lily replied.

"Summon more Servants?"

"Yep, I summon lots of friends in Chaldea to help us fight for humanity." Gudako spoke up.

"Long story short, she is part of an organization called the Chaldea Security Organization, which is dedicated to preventing the extinction of the Human Order. Servants contracted to her like I am do not fight for the Holy Grail, we answered her summons with the knowledge that we are fighting for the survival of humanity." Saber Lily explained.

"We go on trips across the timeline to correct errors in human history. I think this is the first time I've been summoned as a Servant, though." Gudako added.

"Wasn't there that one girl who somehow manifested as a Servant too? The one who likes strawberry ice cream."

"Oh, you mean Shiki. We were clearing out that weird apartment with ghosts and zombies and she decided to come back to Chaldea with us in the end. It was pretty fun."

"I'm so confused right now," said Archer. What kind of security organization would hire nine-year-olds?!

"Don't worry, papa, with all the Servants from alternate realities, everyone is confused."

"The fact that we're here means that there's something wrong with this Holy Grail War. If this is like the other Singularities at all, then we will have to fix it by seizing the Holy Grail. This is probably a minor Singularity that was left over for some reason, although it probably won't affect human history. But it would be best if we fix it regardless." Saber Lily explained once more.

"Okay, it's decided then. I'll try and call another Servant to help us out. Hopefully it'll work even if we can't contact Chaldea right now." Gudako nodded sagely.

"How do you even support that many Servants at once?" Archer questioned. He knew for a fact that Shirou was a terrible magus and sustaining that many Servants should be impossible, barring the unethical methods such as eating human souls (which he knew would never happen).

"Hmm, when I wasn't a Servant, Chaldea would handle 40% of the mana costs and I would handle the rest. It's not like I call all 170 or so Servants into battle at the same time so it's fine." The last part of that sentence made Archer spit out his tea.

"But now I have this cool skill called Independent Manifestation that lets me exist without requiring any mana. And any Servants contracted to me also benefit from it too. Cool!"

"Amazing, Master. I'm sure you'll be a wonderful Heroic Spirit someday!" Saber Lily complimented.

"Do you really think so? I thought modern people couldn't get into the Throne anymore." Gudako questioned.

"Master, if saving all of humanity from incineration won't get you into the Throne, then I don't know what will."

"Hmm, I guess so. I bet it would be cool if I summoned my future self like what mama did with papa."

"Trust me, it's not as great as you might think it is," Archer interjected.

"Hm, if papa says so then I'll listen. Are mama and papa asleep yet?"

"Do you want to go check, Master?"

"Yeah, let's go!"

They found the two Masters snoring away in their respective rooms, which was to be expected from such a long night. Rin had taken the room closest to Shirou's, much to their amusement.

Motioning for the other two Servants to stay quiet, Gudako snuck into Rin's room and took advantage of the fact that Rin was a heavy sleeper as she lifted her mama and carried her into Shirou's room. She carefully set Rin down next to Shirou before wrapping the blanket around the two. Archer sent her a questioning look, but the words that came out of her mouth next rendered him speechless.

"Mama told me how she was always lonely living alone after her parents died and Sakura-obaa-san left the house. If I have the chance to make her less lonely here, then I'll do it."

Archer opened his mouth, but closed it after realizing that he had no words to say. Loneliness was probably the emotion that was kept hidden away the most in the mind of the Tohsaka heir. It would certainly explain her unwillingness to kill the Emiya boy, even in other timelines. She didn't kill him not only because she had owed a debt to the boy for preventing his Saber from cutting her down, but also because she wanted a friend.

Although the Rin in this particular timeline seemed to be a million times more prone to her _dere_ side of her tsundere personality, but when you're suddenly told that you have a daughter in the future with the boy you've been secretly keeping an eye on, it tends to force out suppressed feelings for said boy.

Well, she always did have a soft spot for him so it isn't all that surprising.

They let the two teens sleep in peace as they followed Gudako to Shirou's shed. She projected a broom to sweep the ground with, revealing the long-forgotten summoning circle underneath.

She rummaged around the shed to see if there was anything to draw a magic circle with. There wasn't any magical reagents to draw with, so she eventually settled for some white paint. It wasn't very magically conductive, so she ended up pulling some Phoenix Plumes out of her phone.

Archer's eyes widened at seeing feathers of a legendary Phoenix, which should have all retreated to the Reverse Side of the World long ago.

"Don't tell mama." Gudako told him as she held a finger to her lips. Archer got the message; Rin would probably go crazy if she saw magical items from a Phantasmal Species.

She threw them into the white paint, turning it orange, before carefully drawing a Chaldea-style summoning circle over the original one.

"This circle will summon a Servant from Chaldea. Summoning someone straight from the Throne of Heroes means they won't have any idea about what's going on, which is why I drew the circle." Gudako explained. _That, and I don't want to power up a Servant all over again._ she thought to herself.

Archer watched with interest as his daughter carefully pulled out three Saint Quartz and a lock of white hair and placed them into the circle. She closed her eyes and channeled a bit of prana into the circle, and the Quartz did the rest as they started crackling with magical energy. It was like using a stick of dynamite; channeling energy into the circle was akin to lighting the fuse, where the explosion was caused by the explosives contained within, which in this case was the three Saint Quartz sitting within the circle.

The Quartz and the hair was consumed as three bands of light formed around the summoning circle, before closing in on themselves and causing a bright flash of light.

The light died down to reveal a small, white-haired girl wearing a Japanese elementary school uniform.

"Ruby, what's going on- eh? Master, is that you?"

She was cut off by Archer, who was trembling.

"Illya, w-what happened to you?!"


	8. Chapter 8

"E-ehh?! It's Archer-onii-chan!"

"Calm down, onee-chan. This Archer isn't from Chaldea so he doesn't know you yet."

"Aw, I see...can you call me onee-chan again?"

"Onee-chan."

"Kyaaaa~you're so cute, Ritsuka-chan! As expected from onii-chan's child!"

"Last time you said you wouldn't mind bearing your onii-chan's chi-"

"AHHHH! Shut up Ruby! We said we would never speak of that again!" Illya picked up her wand and began slamming it against the ground repeatedly.

"Illya please, you're ruining the summoning circle I just drew." Gudako tried to stop the catatonic girl.

Archer's eye began twitching violently.

* * *

"Damn it!" Illya stomped around her room, frustrated at her failure to destroy her onii-chan. "I can't believe I let my guard down like that!"

"Please calm down, Lady Illyasviel. It would be best if you think things through rationally." Sella, one of Illya's maids, tried to calm down the girl.

"Perhaps it would be best if you retired for the night. Getting enough rest is crucial to victory in the war." Leysritt, her other maid, also spoke up.

"Hmph, fine. I guess I'll retire for the night." Illya gave in as she jumped onto her bed.

The two maids bowed and left as she clutched her pillow to her chest.

"I'll definitely get you next time, onii-chan. You won't get away!" she huffed.

Suddenly, the strangest feeling came over her body as she shuddered for a split second. She just shrugged it off and went to sleep.

* * *

"Why don't you introduce yourself, Illya?" Artoria asked kindly.

The four Servants were now sitting at the table in the living room again. It was almost dawn, but the two Masters would certainly be sleeping in today since it was a weekend.

"Um, my name is Illya, I'm ten years old and I'm a fifth grader in elementary school. I'm getting used to being a magical girl and a Caster, but I'll do my best. Please take care of me, onii-chan!"

"I guess I have no choice but to take care of this silly little sister of mine." Emiya sighed dramatically, though there was a real smile on his face. The number of people he could truly smile for could be counted on one hand, and Illya was one of them. "A magical girl, huh? Who would have thought."

Emiya turned to Artoria.

"Is it just me or have Heroic Spirits started to become younger now? They grow up so fast nowadays..." he asked, unable to wrap his head around the fact that a ten-year-old Illya was qualified to become a Servant.

"We have many more child-like Servants back in Chaldea, Emiya-senpai. Fortunately, we also have several motherly ones to help take care of them as well, including yourself."

"Erm, thanks?" Emiya wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not.

"Papa is the number one most overprotective Servant in all of Chaldea."

"Onii-chan is good at cooking and cleaning and doing the laundry. He's almost like a housewife. Heh...hehehehe." Illya's mind started to drift off into weird territory.

"It's almost like he's a harem protagonist." Ruby helpfully pitched in.

"I-I see?" Emiya wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Why don't we go clean the house while they're still asleep?" Gudako asked.

* * *

Shirou and Rin were currently sleeping, with Rin's head pressed against Shirou's chest while holding his arm against her own chest. They appeared to be sleeping peacefully, at least on the outside. In reality they had their eyes squeezed shut and their bodies were rigid.

Shirou was the one who woke up first, at around 10 o'clock. He had just woken up from a dream involving a massive field of swords, only to find himself in this dangerous position. Having learned his lesson the first time, instead of screaming or trying to move his arm away, which would likely wake up Rin, he wisely decided to just close his eyes again and stay as still as a rock. Say what you want about his lack of self-preservation instincts, he still wanted to avoid what would likely be the biggest beating of his life.

Unknown to him, since his eyes were being squeezed shut, Rin had woken up soon after. By virtue of not being a morning person, she ended up cuddling closer to her "body pillow", only to realize that she didn't own a body pillow, nor were they supposed to breathe and have a heartbeat. Opening her eyes, she realized that she was the one in Shirou's room and not the other way around, and out of sheer embarrassment she did the same thing he did, which was to squeeze her eyes shut and stay as still as a rock. Despite her embarrassment, she didn't move Shirou's arm away from her chest.

They awkwardly lay completely still and painfully self-conscious like this until noon, when Archer had loudly declared from the living room that lunch was ready and they should both get up. That's right, they stayed like this for two whole hours.

Shirou got out of bed first. He got up extremely slowly since he was stiff all over from forcing himself to stay still. Grabbing his clothes, he removed his sleepwear as he tried to change as fast as possible and escape the room. He turned around to catch Rin staring at him while doing a hilariously bad attempt at covering her eyes with her hands. Having been caught red-handed and embarrassed out of her mind, Rin quickly turned away, though her eyes were clearly still darting between the corner of the room and Shirou's shirtless form, which was actually pretty muscular.

Shirou quickly changed the rest of his clothes and ran out of the room without a word while noting that Rin was unusually docile. He was expecting a lot more screaming.

Feeling like her face was on fire, she picked up her clothes and started changing as well.

* * *

"Tohsaka, is it just me or is my house sparkling?" Shirou turned to the ground, where he could see his reflection staring back at him due to how utterly clean it was.

"It's not just you, Emiya-kun." Rin ran her finger against the wall. Sure enough, it was completely spotless.

They shared a look before heading in to the living room, where they were greeted by the strangest sight.

Archer was in the kitchen churning out dishes, Saber was carrying the dishes like a waitress, Gudako was setting the table with a small white-haired girl.

"It's onii-chan!" Illya immediately knocked Shirou to the ground, only to almost get a Gandr to the face from Rin.

"H-how did you get in here?!" Rin screeched as she kept firing shot after shot while Illya was running around screaming and shielding herself with Ruby.

"Wait, wait! We have a misunderstanding here!" Gudako shouted as Saber Lily ducked under a stray Gandr and Archer had to deflect another with one of his swords.

* * *

Shirou cried for his destroyed living room and kitchen (more for the kitchen, though) while everyone else was placating Rin and preventing her from blowing any more holes in the Emiya residence. Although thanks to some miracle, the table with the food remained untouched.

"Don't worry mama. I summoned her here so it's okay."

"Uh oh, I think Rin traumatized her." Saber Lily motioned to Illya, who was hiding behind her.

"There, there," Ruby tried to comfort her. "the old hag won't hurt you anymore."

"Who are you calling an old hag?!" Before anyone could restrain Rin, she had snatched up the delinquent wand, only for her eyes to widen in surprise once she recognized it as a Kaleidostick.

"Wait, why do you have this?" she questioned.

"Come sit down, mama. Might as well explain while we eat."

Everyone ended up sitting in the middle of the destroyed living room as they started to eat their meal. Archer had elected to make a western-style brunch with random ingredients he could get from the fridge before it got blown up by Rin's magecraft, which was stuff like eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and other things like that.

"Okay, you can start explaining now." Rin ordered as Archer poured her some tea.

"Okay, so last night I went to summon more Servants when you two were sleeping."

"Wait, you can summon more?!"

"Mhm, I went into papa's workshop last night and redrew the summoning circle on the ground there since it was kinda messy. I used Illya's hair I got after the fight with Berserker as a catalyst and summoned this Illya from another world as a Caster." Gudako motioned for Illya to introduce herself again.

"Um, my name is Illya, I'm ten years old and I'm a fifth grader in elementary school. I'm getting used to being a magical girl and a Caster, but I'll do my best. Please take care of me."

"Wait, is the Illya we fought last night also ten years old?" Shirou asked.

"No, that Illya is actually older than both you and mama. She's your older sister." Gudako replied, getting a bewildered look from the two Masters.

"Ritsuka-chan told me papa and mama have already passed on in this world. In my world, me and onii-chan live together with papa and mama. So I think if the Illya of this world sees me, she'll get really angry..." Illya said sadly.

Archer watched the exchange silently. He always felt bad about Illya's tragic circumstances, but it soothed his heart to know at least there was one Illya out there who got to live peacefully with her parents, even if she somehow ended up as a magical girl.

"Why do you have the Kaleidostick then?" Rin asked next.

"Ah...Ruby ran away from the Rin of my world because you were a bad magical girl, so she broke off that contract and made one with me instead."

"Yeah, Illya-chan makes a much better magical girl than that old hag anyways."

"Ah, Ruby, you might want to stop, mama looks like she is about to explode." Gudako tried to stop the wand from antagonizing Rin any more, since it looked like she was going to do more than blow a few more holes in the house.

"Um, anyways, back in my world, me and my friend Miyu transformed into magical girls with the Kaleidosticks to collect the Class Cards, which are basically cards with the power of a Servant sealed inside. I can't use them now, though, since I was told that they don't work due to me being in a Servant container."

"I don't really get it, but I take it that's a bad thing?" Shirou asked.

"Well, I got used to it. I have another special technique that's become my Noble Phantasm now, so it's okay."

"I have so many questions I want to ask..." Rin rubbed her forehead. "I guess my main concern is how you can support so many Servants at once. Emiya-kun doesn't look like he would be able to support three Servants, let alone one. Even a top-class magus can't handle more than one without degrading their stats."

"Papa could check my stats and skills. I'll let him tell you what it is."

"Huh? How do I do that?" Shirou asked.

"Jeez, Emiya-kun, you really are an amateur. Look at your Servant with the intent of finding out their capabilities. If you do this to a Servant that isn't yours, you'll still be able to see their basic parameters and class skills, but more personal info like their True Name and Noble Phantasm won't show up unless you manage to learn it yourself. " Rin explained.

"Okay, here goes, then." Shirou stares at Gudako in an attempt to learn more about her. Suddenly his mind fills with information, and his eyes perceive it in an RPG-style menu.

"Wow, that's a lot of info. So many skills..." One skill near the top of the list sticks out.

"Independent Manifestation?"

* * *

 **Didn't want to cram all of the servant stats and skills into this chapter, those will appear in the next chapter.**


	9. Chapter 9

True Name: ̶F̶u̶j̶i̶m̶a̶r̶u̶ **(Emiya-Tohsaka)** Ritsuka

Class: Master

Alignment: True Neutral

Master: Emiya Shirou

Parameters

Strength: E+++

Endurance:D+++

Agility: C+++

Mana: C+++

Luck: EX

Noble Phantasm: ?

Class Skills

Master Command EX: All-encompassing skill that marks the holder as a capable Master. Includes the ability to use three Command Seals (regenerates at a rate of 1 per 24 hours), Saint Graph Readvent (Ascension) for all friendly Servants, temporarily take control of Servants from an allied Master, and directly control Servants while in combat with Command Cards.

Multipurpose D: Gudako gained this skill from learning from all sorts of Servants. Applies the effects of Magic Resistance, Riding, Territory Creation, Item Construction, Independent Action, and Presence Concealment at rank D. Any individual skill that has a higher rank will take priority over this skill if it exists.

True Name Discernment EX: Instantly recognize the True Name of a Servant and see their parameters. Will bypass any attempts at concealing the stats and skills with no questions asked, if the holder of the skill has already seen the Servant at least once before.

Territory Creation EX: Sets up a "My Room" which is fundamentally different from a Workshop. Creates a territory specifically for the purpose of healing Servants and anchoring Saint Graphs to the specified location. Slain Servants will be sent to the territory to regenerate instead of being sent back to the Throne of Heroes as long as they are contracted to the owner of the "My Room" at the time of death. The default "My Room" is located in Chaldea Security Organization if a territory is not set.

Independent Manifestation C++: Skill normally restricted to ▅▅▅-class. Allows for materialization without requiring a magical energy supply. Resistance to time manipulation and instantaneous imposition of death. At rank C++, any Servants contracted to the holder of the skill will also be able to materialize without a magical energy supply, though they will still need to be linked to the Master, and the holder will not be targeted by the Counter Force. Engaging in combat will still require magical energy.

Personal Skills

Projection Magecraft C: Can project mundane objects and equipment easily. Projected Mystic Codes are degraded by one rank, Noble Phantasms are degraded by two ranks. Cannot project items over rank C, or not made by mortal hands.

Jewel Magecraft C **(EX)** : Medium proficiency at casting spells using jewels as a catalyst. Due to her lack of age and experience, the rank of this skill is only at C. If **Saint Quartz** is used to cast jewel magecraft instead, the effects of the skill skyrocket to EX-rank.

Savior of Human Order EX: This skill was gained from defeating ▅▅▅▅▅▅ with her bare hands. Attaches +++ modifier to all parameters. Gudako can use + (doubles parameter value) and ++ (triple) when in a pinch, but +++ (quadruple) won't activate unless Gudako stands alone with no Servants left.

Servant's Beloved EX: Complete compatibility with all Servants actualized as a skill. Gudako can get any Servant to warm up to her regardless of their moral alignment or personality. Grants a limited ability to speak to Berserkers. Servants with a powerful bond can occasionally surpass the limits of their Servant container. Has an unintended side effect of turning her Servants into overprotective family members due to her young age. When fighting against ▅▅▅-class entities and enemies of humankind, grants Servants a parameter boost based on bond levels.

Wisdom of Heroes D: This composite skill is a result of Gudako learning how to work and fight from various Heroic Spirits. Includes knowledge of:

Various types of magical knowledge like runes and alchemy from Casters of old that modern magi would literally kill for,

Combat and weapons training from famous warriors, and how to plan out strategies from famous generals and tacticians,

As well as other various subjects. At rank D, she is below average in many subjects, but the extremely varied nature of her knowledge make her into a true jack-of-all-trades.

Presence Suppression A: Lets Gudako hide in plain sight and no one will pay her any extra attention as she will be perceived as an ordinary, harmless little girl. Masks her existence as a Servant as long as her cover isn't blown. This is one of the few skills that ends up at a higher rank because of her young age, mainly because no one will really question a little girl seriously.

Noble Phantasms

Mystic Code Uniforms

Type: Support

Rank: B

Gudako has a collection of various outfit-based Mystic Codes to choose from. Can instantly switch them at will when outside of combat.

 **Second Archive -** _Servant Purgatory_

Type: Anti-Servant

Rank: E-EX

Also known as the Servant Jail, it can only be used on an enemy Servant if they are captured and taken back to home territory. For a Servant unfortunate enough to get captured by Gudako while she is in a bad mood, she will throw them into the Second Archive and conveniently forget that they exist. Once inside, there is no escape as they sit in total isolation. No one knows what goes on in the Second Archive, but it is known that even the most famous of heroes end up as a traumatized mess once they are released. The rank of this Noble Phantasm rises over time the longer someone is trapped in it.

 **Black Key Hell** \- _Despair of Gacha_

Type: Anti-Army

Rank: E-C

Opens a gate to Gudako's storage and fires Black Keys (C-rank) at her enemies. Contrary to its name, it can also fire a multitude of other items derived from low ranking Craft Essences besides Black Keys. Includes, but not limited to: runestones, Azoth Swords, the concept of a leyline (somehow), miniature replicas of the Clock Tower, dragon fire, Matou Shinji, and other bizarre and inane objects. The power of this Noble Phantasm increases in proportion to Gudako's current level of despair. Totally not a rip-off of Gate of Babylon™.

Smartphone

Type: Support

Rank: D

An ordinary smartphone from the future. Stores items such as food, money, magical reagents, Holy Grails and EXP cards. Also acts as a management console for all of her current Servants and Craft Essences. Will still function as an ordinary smartphone. Comes with a copy of Fate/Grand Order and other mobages installed.

 **?**

Type: ?

Rank: -

* * *

"Wow, that's a lot of information to take in." Shirou commented on his daughter's skills. He wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that his daughter had a Noble Phantasm labeled as "Servant Purgatory" and frowned at the fact that she had been constantly fighting to get this kind of power.

"What? Let me see!" Rin prodded. Gudako allowed Rin to see all of her stats with her Master's vision, except for the final hidden Noble Phantasm. It's completely possible for a Servant to allow another Master to view their full status, except no one would ever do that in a Holy Grail War, so it's a mostly forgotten ability.

"Hmm..." Rin frowned as she looked through the big list of skills her daughter had. She noted that there were a lot of composite skills that carried a lot of effects, and her parameters were plain weird.

"Her stats are on the lower end, but she can boost them thanks to the +++ modifier, and she has a wide range of skills too. She's clearly a support type." Rin mumbled.

"Heh, she has my Projection and your jewel magecraft, Tohsaka." Shirou commented, making Rin blush.

"Of course, it's the duty of the parents to pass on their magecraft to their c-child, after all." She quickly turned her head away to hide her embarrassment.

Gudako pulled on Shirou's shirt.

"Papa, mama is acting tsun-tsun again."

Everyone burst out laughing, especially Archer, who laughed the hardest.

Rin turned and glared at Archer, who couldn't help himself.

"I'm sorry, it's just that your daughter clearly knows you extremely well."

Rin huffed and turned away, her face still burning red.

"That True Name Discernment looks like a cheat skill, though. Not that I'm complaining." Shirou added.

"Wait a minute..." Rin started. "Couldn't you use that skill to figure out what Archer's name is?!"

Gudako nodded.

"Do you know who he is?!"

Gudako nodded.

"Can you tell me?"

Gudako shook her head.

"What!? Why?!"

"It'll be better if you figure it out yourself, mama." Gudako replied with a spitting image of Archer's infuriating smirk on her face.

"Why can you even smirk like my stupid Archer? You two aren't even related!"

"Heh." All the Servants shuffled around suspiciously.

"He's being a bad influence on my daughter. From now on, you're not allowed to talk to her anymore, Archer."

"Oi, I resent that."

"Fine, I was just kidding. But still, don't go and teach my daughter any weird stuff."

 _Don't I get any say in this?_ thought Shirou.

They finished eating, and Rin made Archer do the dishes ("Oi! What do you think a Servant is for?!" he complained.)

Then they remembered that the faucet was destroyed. ("Oops," Rin replied sheepishly.)

"Don't worry, mama." Gudako proceeded to pull out an aquamarine from her pocket.

To Rin's extreme horror, she proceeded to use the aquamarine as a catalyst for conjuring a stream of water for washing the dishes with.

"W-w-what do you think you're doing with that jewel, Ritsuka?!" Rin screamed.

Gudako just tilted her head in confusion. "I'm washing the dishes, mama."

"B-but using magecraft with expensive jewels, for washing dishes?!" The concept of using magecraft for something as mundane as washing dishes was completely foreign to her.

Gudako looked even more confused. "I can use jewels for dusting the house too."

" _Dust the house, please._ " she chanted. She then proceeded to pull out a small sapphire and threw it in the air. It immediately dissolved as a gust of wind literally blew out all the dust in the house.

"Wow, that _is_ impressive." Shirou commented as he checked the floor. It was completely free of dust. "Note to self, you can cast magecraft if you ask politely. Didn't know that."

"Um, is Rin-san okay?" Illya spoke up. Rin looked like she was about to have a mental breakdown.

"Using gemstones for doing household chores...impossible...how could my child possibly end up like this..."

"Ah, I forgot mama used to live in poverty. Sorry, mama." Rin felt her daughter's words stab her in right in the heart.

"Um...isn't poverty a rather strong word to use, Master?" Artoria asked.

"Is it? Mama complained about it a lot, so I just assumed." Rin felt her words stab her in the heart again.

"W-who did you learn magecraft from?! I can't believe you would end up using magecraft for such mundane things!"

"Um...if it's runes, I learned some from Cu Chulainn and Scathach. For jewel magecraft, I learned the basics from you, mama. Then after that day... I started learning from Mr. Paracelsus after I summoned him. He taught me some alchemy too, along with grandma."

"Grandma?" Archer asked.

"She means Irisviel," Artoria leaned over and whispered to Archer. His eyes widened and he just nodded, though it was clear he wanted to talk about it later.

"Mr. Paracelsus? You...you don't mean the legendary alchemist, Paracelsus von Hohenheim?"

"You're right, Rin. Mr. Paracelsus is very good with children. When he saw Ritsuka's magecraft, he immediately wanted to take her under his wing as an apprentice of sorts." Artoria explained.

"It's a good thing too, because Mr. Paracelsus can make jewels nonstop once we hook him up to a leyline," Gudako explained.

"M-make jewels?" Rin asked with a trembling voice.

"Yeah, sometimes he spends the entire day in his workshop just making more jewels to use. He says he isn't very suited for combat on the front lines, so he supports everyone with the items he makes." Gudako explained as she pulled a bottle out of her phone and handed it to Rin.

"Extra-strength magic dish soap, made with Void Dust combined with regular soap using alchemy, by Paracelsus von Hohenheim and Medea of Colchis?" Rin read the label incredulously.

Gudako demonstrated the amazing power of the magic dish soap by rubbing some on a dirty platter and rinsed it off with water. The grease and soap washed off immediately.

"Wow, that's amazing." Archer looked at the dish soap with a look of genuine interest, causing all the other Servants to snicker.

"Why are you even interested in dish soap, Archer?!" Rin yelled.

"Calm down, Rin. It's not every day you see dish soap created by a legendary alchemist and witch, you know."

Just then, the phone started ringing.

"Hold on, I'll get this." Shirou got up and went to the phone.

"Hello, this is Emiya speaking. Eh, Fuji-nee? You want me to bring lunch over to you? Do I- yes, alright. I'll be there soon."

He hung up.

"Looks like I have to bring food over to Fuji-nee at the school. I hope she'll settle for leftovers of our lunch, since I can't make anything in the kitchen." Shirou sighed at his destroyed kitchen, making Rin look away in shame.

"I guess me and Archer will take our leave, then." Rin got up.

"Alright, Tohsaka. Be careful on your way home."

"Hey, Emiya-kun." Rin suddenly stopped and turned around.

"Hm? What is it, Tohsaka?"

 _Ah, it's mama's dere-dere side._ Gudako thought.

"I'm really sorry for destroying your house! So, if you'd like... you can stay over at my place later." Rin apologized. "Only until your house is fixed up, of course!" she hastily added the last part with a blush.

Shirou was caught off guard by the apology. Seeing Rin give a sincere apology was slightly surprising, considering her usual personality, but it only served to reinforce his opinion that she was indeed a good person no matter how she usually acted in school.

Also, he could see a bit of pleading in her eyes that made it hard to say no.

"Well..." Shirou started, only for Rin to look up at him with hopeful eyes.

 _How can I possibly say no to that?!_ he thought to himself.

"Yeah, sure. I'll drop by your place later tonight, okay?"

"Yes! I-I mean, I-I'll see you later." Rin coughed and quickly left through the front door with an undeniable spring in her step. Archer just sighed and gave a nod to everyone else before he followed after his Master in spiritual form.


	10. Chapter 10

Shirou packed up the leftovers from lunch into a bento box and wrapped it up.

"I should probably head over to the school now. I can only imagine what sort of absurd orders Fuji-nee will give out when she's hungry," Shirou idly commented.

"Is Taiga-sensei your teacher, onii-chan?" Illya asked.

"Yeah, she teaches English here. Why do you ask?"

"In my world, she's an elementary teacher."

"Differences between worlds, I guess. Magecraft sure is an amazing thing." Shirou got up and headed towards the front door.

"Can I come with you, papa?" Gudako asked. "I want to go outside."

"Eh? Sure, I don't see why not."

"Yay!" Gudako twirled around, and her Chaldean uniform was immediately replaced with the Anniversary Blonde outfit, which consisted of a white blouse with a blue skirt and ribbon.

"Artoria, can you watch the house? And onee-chan, do you think you can fix the house with Ruby?"

"Of course, Gudako." Artoria replied.

Illya took a look at the damaged parts of the house. "We can fix the walls and stuff, but I don't think we can fix the broken kitchen appliances."

"That's fine, onee-chan, we can just buy new ones later. By the way, you two, think up a fake name to use in case you meet any regular people. We're using the 'hiding in plain sight' strategy, so keep your real first names, but make up a fake last name, okay?"

" Okay, Master." "Okay, Ritsuka-chan!"

* * *

"Ohhhh..." Gudako stares at the sights of Fuyuki as she and her papa walk hand in hand on the path to the school.

"Is seeing the city that interesting, Ritsuka-chan?" Shirou asks with a smile.

"I'm from the future, so everything here looks really old to me." Gudako replied.

"That would make sense. I wonder what Fuyuki would look like in the future?"

"Just keep living and you'll find out, papa."

"Haha, you're right, Ritsuka-chan."

The father and daughter continue walking up the hill in comfortable silence. Eventually they reach the entrance of the school.

"Should we make some sort of cover story before we go inside, Ritsuka-chan?"

"Just tell them I'm your younger cousin and we're biologically related. I got adopted by a foreign family, so if people see Artoria and Illya around, no one will question it."

Just as they were about to enter, Gudako stuck her arm out to stop Shirou.

"Do you smell that? There's a bit of magical energy lingering around the school."

"Eh? You can smell magic like me? And I don't sense anything, but then again my sensing range is rather poor."

"Oh, it's just a bit of magical residue that mama left in the school. Let's go in."

"Eh, Tohsaka's magical energy?" Shirou asked as they entered.

"Mhm, mama has a lot of magical energy, so it's natural if she leaves a bit of it behind since she spends a lot of time in school."

"Wow, Tohsaka really is amazing, isn't she?"

Gudako just nodded as they neared the archery club building.

"Yo, Emiya! Did you bring Taiga-sensei's lunch?"

This was Mitsuzuri Ayako, the captain of the archery club.

"Oh, Mitsuzuri. That's right, this is the lunch for Fuji-nee. I hope she didn't cause too much trouble."

"You really saved us, Emiya. She was starting to go delirious from hunger. If you showed up any later I would have had to run down to the shopping district to grab something for her to eat."

"Wow, was it that bad?"

"Yeah, it really was." Ayako just shook her head. "Anyways, who's the little girl you have with you, Emiya?"

"Ah, that's my biological cousin. I managed to get in touch with some long-lost relatives, so she's currently staying with me for a while. Say hello, Ritsuka-chan."

"Eh, you're the girl in the Craft Essence." Gudako mumbled. "Hello, my name is Fujimaru Ritsuka. It's nice to meet you."

"Ah~ she's so cute and polite. Her hair and eyes are the same colors as yours too, Emiya. My name is Mitsuzuri Ayako. Hey, why don't we all go inside? I'm sure Sakura and Taiga-sensei will be happy to see her."

As they entered the archery range, they were greeted with the sight of Taiga giving out unreasonable demands to the club members.

"Ouch. Geez, why is this bow like this? I can't put the string on well if it's like this." a random student yelled out.

"Oh, there! Don't push on the top. You're still young, so get someone to help you if it's difficult. If you break it, your neck will be broken later on.  
That is, I'm going to break your neck for breaking our precious bow." Taiga yelled back.

 _She hasn't changed at all!_ Gudako thought to herself.

"Hey, Sakura!" Shirou called out to his purple-haired kouhai.

"Eh, s-senpai?!"

Sakura immediately put down her bow and ran over to him.

"W-why are you here today, senpai? Um, could it be..."

"Yeah, I bought lunch for Fuji-nee. I heard she was acting troublesome again so I rushed over here. Can you bring her over here?"

"Oh, of course. By the way, who is this little girl?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, she's my biological cousin. I managed to get in contact with some of my lost relatives, and well, I somehow ended up in charge of taking care of her for a while."

"I'm happy for you, senpai!" Sakura looks up with a happy face. "What's your name?"

"I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka. It's nice to meet you, obaa-chan."

"O-obaa-chan?! Senpai, d-do I really look that old?" Sakura asked weakly.

"Now, now, Ritsuka-chan. She's my reliable kouhai, so she's younger than me, okay?" Shirou had to pretend to scold the girl to keep up appearances, he assumed that she referred to Sakura as her aunt since they were probably family friends or something similar in the future.

"Okay, kouhai-san."

 _Did she just claim Sakura as her own kouhai?!_ Shirou thought to himself while Sakura just giggled.

"But Ritsuka-chan, I'm older than you."

Gudako just tilted her head. "I have a purple-haired kouhai back home, too."

"Anyways, we should probably get this food to Fuji-nee before she does something ridiculous."

"I'll be at the range, senpai. I'll see you later." Sakura bowed and walked back to the archery range.

The two walked over to the hungry tiger. The moment the bento box came out, she immediately scarfed it all down in an instant.

"Ahh~ I feel much better now." Taiga said as she gulped down some tea to go with the food. "Eh, who's the little girl with you, Shirou?"

"This is my biological cousin. After getting in touch with some of my lost relatives, I'll be taking care of her for a while. Go ahead and introduce yourself."

"I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka, it's nice to meet you, Taiga-sensei."

" That's wonderful, Shirou! And your little cousin is so cute~" Taiga tugged on Gudako's cheeks. "She even has the same eyes and hair color as you."

"I guess that's something that runs in the family." Shirou replied while rubbing the back of his head before he turned to Gudako. "Also, don't call her tiger, or else she'll get angry."

"She doesn't like being called tiger? How about a jaguar?"

"A jaguar, huh? I like the sound of that!" Taiga gave a thumbs up.

 _Incredible, she was able to tame Fuji-nee!_ Shirou thought to himself.

"Anyways, I have to go teach, so feel free to just watch."

"I'll be staying around in here then." Shirou replied.

Taiga turned around and was about to walk away, only to see a small crowd of students gathered around something.

"Eh, what's going on?"

Shirou and Taiga walked over to the crowd, where they saw Sakura and the other students standing around Gudako.

Gudako had one of the practice bows in her hands, its large size compared to her small body made it almost comical but for some reason it seemed like she could handle the big bow just fine. She picked up an arrow, nocked it, and aimed at one of the targets.

 _*zip*_

The arrow cut through the air and hit the target dead center.

Immediately the entire archery club was in an uproar.

"That's your cousin, Emiya?"

"Does archery run in your family or something?"

"She's so small and cute!"

"Wow, you're talented just like senpai, Ritsuka-chan!" Sakura was gushing over the little girl.

"Where did you learn archery from, Ritsuka-chan?" Shirou asked.

"Oh, I just picked up some tips from here and there." Gudako dodged the question. No one here needed to know that she got archery pointers from the likes of Atlanta, Arjuna, and other legendary archers.

Her reply, however, seemed to rile up the crowd even more.

"Wow, she's even humble just like Emiya!"

"What a polite child."

Eventually the crowd dispersed after Gudako said she didn't feel like shooting any more arrows.

They spent the rest of the day at the archery range, just relaxing and forgetting about the harsh reality of the Holy Grail War.

Eventually the sun started to set and it was time to leave.

"Hey, Sakura, Fuji-nee, I need to tell you something."

"What is it, Senpai?"

"Yeah, what is it, Shirou?"

"My relatives are visiting for a bit, so I won't be at home for tonight."

Sakura immediately looked rather down.

"D-don't worry, Sakura, I'll only be gone for one night. Afterwards, Ritsuka-chan will be staying with me for a while since my relatives wanted her to get familiar with me, since, you know, I've been missing to them for a long time. So you can expect to be seeing her for a while."

"Okay, I understand, senpai."

"Yeah, Shirou, go get to know your relatives more. We'll still be here if you need us, okay?"

Eventually Shirou and Gudako split away from Taiga and Sakura.

"Man, I felt kind of bad for lying to Sakura like that."

"Don't worry papa, it's only for one night. Anyways, let me call Artoria and Illya-chan over."

Gudako focused her magical energy and summoned the two Servants to her side.

"Did you remember to get papa's stuff?"

"I have it right here, Gudako." Artoria produced a small suitcase with some of Shirou's essentials packed already.

"Me and Ruby also managed to fix most of the house. The kitchen appliances will have to be replaced, though."

"That's fine. Time to go to mama's house."

* * *

The four currently stood in front of Rin's house, which was more like a mansion. Gudako knocked on the door as she didn't want to set off the Bounded Field around the property unnecessarily.

"Ah, Emiya-kun, you're here." Rin let the four people inside.

"Archer just finished making dinner, so you're right on time."

Everyone sat at a big table for dinner, fortunately Archer made plenty of food.

Dinner was slightly awkward, as Rin and Shirou didn't really know what to say to each other.

"So, Tohsaka, do you usually live alone?"

"...yeah. After my parents died, I've been living alone in this house. The fake priest has been managing the properties and teaching me magecraft but other than that, he doesn't really do much. What about you, Emiya-kun?"

"Well, after dad died, I've been living on my own too. Fuji-nee drops by often, though, and Sakura likes to drop by too, so I can't say I was totally alone. You're strong, being able to live alone like that."

Rin blushed a bit at the compliment.

"By the way, this food is really good. I didn't think Archer would be able to cook so well."

"Yes, Archer-san's food is very good." Artoria added. She would normally praise "Emiya-senpai" more, but she had to keep up appearances so she couldn't speak to him so familiarly in the presence of the two teenage Masters.

"Yeah, it's almost as good as onii-chan's cooking," Illya added, making Gudako smirk at the hidden meaning.

They finished eating and Rin made Archer do the dishes as usual. Gudako passed him the bottle of magical dish soap, which he accepted graciously.

"Seriously, why is Archer so good at housework anyways? I'm not complaining, but still..." Rin could only shake her head, much to the amusement of the other Servants.

* * *

Eventually, it was time for bed. Rin ended up giving Shirou the room right across from her own, getting another infuriating smirk from Archer in the process. After they both washed up, they both retreated to their respective beds.

Shirou marveled at the western-style room for a while, then he decided to settle down and sleep. Normally at night, he would be practicing his magecraft in his workshop, but even he knew that casting magecraft in the territory of another magus was a completely stupid idea.

 _I'll just train twice as hard later,_ he thought to himself before he drifted off to sleep.

Unlike Shirou, who feel asleep rather easily, Rin was going through a lot of inner turmoil as she lay on her bed.

"I didn't think this war would become so personal..." she muttered into her pillow as she clutched it to her chest.

She had always been prepared to fight, and kill other magi in pursuit of the Holy Grail. That was how she was raised, and by magus standards it was nothing unusual. Killing other Masters and Servants was the entire premise of the Holy Grail War, after all.

But then _that boy_ had to show up as one of the Masters. If she had steeled herself early on and killed him like Archer told her to, she probably wouldn't have any lost any sleep over it, but then she made the terrible mistake of getting close to him.

And then he had the gall to summon their own future daughter as his Servant. _The nerve of that boy!_

Rin rolled around in her bed as she tried to push out the thoughts of having to kill her future child and husband for this blasted war. She blushed again as she thought about the fact that Shirou would be the one to father her children.

This war was far more personal than she ever imagined. The only thing that could shock her even more was if someone told her that her Archer was Shirou from the future or something ridiculous like that. Y _eah, right._

And then there was Archer. He had been rather adamant about killing off the Emiya boy at first. It was rather sensible to eliminate an enemy Master while they were still weak and unaware of what was going on, she could agree with that, but she couldn't bring herself to do it because she absolutely refused to owe the boy anything. But after that first night when Archer had met the girl that Shirou summoned, he seemed to have become more docile, and dare she say, more friendly?

Somehow meeting the girl had changed his mind. Did he simply refuse to kill children, even if they were a Servant? Or was it something more?

Rin shook her head to clear her mind of conflicting thoughts. It was sleep time and she didn't want to think of such things.

She sighed as she clutched her pillow. It wasn't warm and comforting, not like when she was hugging _him_.

 _I can't believe I'm doing this,_ Rin thought to herself as she got out of bed and snuck out of her room.

Only to see all four Servants standing right outside.

Archer just smirked, Gudako and Saber gave a small smile, Illya gave a glare that screamed "You better take of onii-chan, or else."

Rin felt her face heat up as she just quickly turned away and power-walked over to Shirou's room.

Rin stared at Shirou's sleeping form on his bed. Even in the middle of the Holy Grail War, he was still able to sleep peacefully.

"Jeez, Emiya-kun, what have you done to me..." Rin whispered as she slipped under the covers and lay next to Shirou.


	11. Chapter 11 - interlude

_Interlude - Illyasviel von Einzbern (Caster)_

* * *

The four Servants watched as Rin quickly closed the door to Shirou's room behind her.

"Well...that was something." Emiya managed to speak out.

"Now what do we do?" Illya asked.

"In a Holy Grail War like this, we should be guarding the Master as they sleep and think up strategies or some course of action." Artoria replied.

"That makes sense." Gudako looked down in thought for a moment. "I've become used to going from battlefield to battlefield, so being able to rest in a modern house is kinda weird. It makes me restless for some reason."

"So we should make a plan while onii-chan and Rin are sleeping." Illya noted.

"I can already think of some things that can be done. We can try and take the leyline at Mount Enzou. We don't even need to keep it, it would be hard to keep the leyline to ourselves since a bunch of people live at Ryuudou Temple. If I can set up a summoning circle on the leyline, it would increase my chances of pulling stronger Servants from Chaldea. No one else can use my circles anyways, so all we really need is to be able to get in and out." Gudako explained.

"We would have to get around Caster first." Emiya explained. "If my memory is correct, she already has a territory set up at the top of the mountain, so if you want access to the leylines there, you'll have to break in. It would take a lot of effort to do so, and entering a territory set by a magus of her caliber without preparation is suicide."

Gudako pulled out her phone and started scrolling down a list. "Let's see here... Caster, Medea. Territory Creation rank A. As expected of Medea-san, just getting past the outer Bounded Field would be nearly impossible unless we have another Caster with an equivalent rank of Territory Creation."

"Amazing," Emiya muttered as he looked at Gudako's phone, which was loaded with Servant info, including a picture, list of skills and parameters, and other important information. "And you said you've summoned and commanded them all?"

Gudako nodded. "See? I even have you on here." She picked out the info page for EMIYA and showed it to him.

He looked at the parameters and skills listed. Most of them were the same, although there were some differences which he pointed out.

"You can actually make Servants stronger by feeding them and ascending them. By fighting alongside them for a long time, you can even make their skills and Noble Phantasm stronger. At least that's how it worked for me."

Emiya was amazed. "You can actually do that? I thought Servants came with fixed skills, and the parameters would only differ if you compared a strong and a weak Master. If it was possible, wouldn't all the Masters in a Grail War try to make their Servant as strong as they could?"

Artoria decided to speak in place of Gudako. "You're thinking in terms of Grail Wars, which usually only last no more than a few weeks. For our fight against the incineration of the Human Order, it wasn't something that was easily solved in a matter of weeks, it took over a year to make sure everything was properly fixed. During this time, Master fed and trained with all of us Servants, and we got stronger for it."

Artoria pulled out Caliburn.

"Thanks to the hard work of our Master, she can even make Noble Phantasms stronger if we put in the effort. For example, my Caliburn used to be rank B, but now it's rank B+. Besides doing more damage, it also heals me when I use it."

"Onee-chan's training with me also paid off when she made my Quintett Feuer go from A+ to EX. It was a lot of hard work, but it was worth it!" Illya added.

"Illya has an EX rank Noble Phantasm?" Emiya eyes went wide that his sister would possess an attack of that caliber. The gap between A and EX was far larger than the gaps between the other ranks, after all.

"Yeah, but it's considered Anti-Unit for some reason. You would think it would hit more than one person with a blast that size..." Gudako shook her head. "Anyways, we were planning on taking the leylines, so can you go scout the area, papa? Your sharp eyesight of an Archer is best at this sort of thing."

"Yeah, a quick scouting run shouldn't take long. What are you planning to do, then?"

"I think I'll strengthen the bounded field around mama's house while you're gone. My EX rank Territory Creation doesn't work with setting up a normal magus territory, so I have to use the rank D version built into my Multipurpose skill to reinforce the existing magical territory mama set up."

"Isn't Illya a Caster? Why can't she do it?" Emiya asked.

"Um, Illya doesn't actually have a Territory Creation skill at all. I think it's because she's a magical girl instead of a magus." Gudako explained, much to Illya's embarrassment.

"Very well, then. I'll be off scouting for a bit. I'll be back soon." Emiya nodded and left the house.

As he left, he blinked as he suddenly realized that he was speaking to a nine-year-old like she was an adult. He sighed and continued on his way.

Artoria and Illya followed Gudako around the building as she reinforced the existing bounded fields.

Suddenly Ruby appeared in Illya's hand and started yanking her toward a particular room.

"Eh? What's wrong, Ruby?" Illya asked.

"I can feel it...my other self is in there!" Ruby exclaimed.

"That door leads into mama's workshop. Should we go in?"

All three girls just looked at each other. Since Ruby didn't seem like she was letting up anytime soon, Gudako decided to just go inside. She quietly undid the bounded fields around the workshop and they all entered.

Almost immediately, Illya was dragged over to a certain chest on the ground.

Gudako slowly opened the lock on the chest and lifted the lid. There were a big pile of papers inside, although it was clear that something was wiggling underneath all the papers.

She picked up the papers, which were all research notes on something about a Jeweled Sword of Zelretch.

"What are all these papers about, Ritsuka-chan?" Illya asked.

"Something about a Jeweled Sword of Zelretch. Looks boring." Gudako replied as she just moved all the papers aside.

Sure enough, there was a copy of Kaleidostick Ruby that was native to this world buried underneath the massive pile of research papers.

"Hmm, do I unseal it?" Gudako pondered. After about 2 seconds, she unsealed it.

"Whew, you saved me! I thought that evil witch was going to keep me buried underneath all those papers till who knows when!" the poor Kaleidostick exclaimed.

"Hello, another me! I knew I felt you here and I wasn't wrong!" Illya's Ruby exclaimed.

"E-eh? Two of Ruby?!" Illya yelled.

"Hey, hey, lemme show you something," Illya's Ruby pulled out a USB cable from the bottom of its handle and connected it to the other Ruby. "It's my album of Illya's sleeping faces!"

"EHHHH? I TOLD YOU TO DELETE THEM?!"

"Illya be quiet," Gudako slammed her hand over Illya's mouth. "You're going to wake them up."

"So...do you want to become a magical girl?" The uncontracted Ruby slowly crept toward Gudako.

"No! Don't do it, it's a scam!" Illya tried to stop the stick.

"As expected of the Kaleidostick, your shadiness level is totally at MAX." Gudako commented to the mystic code with a sweatdrop.

"Mou, fine. I guess little miss Saber over there doesn't want to become a magical girl either? She could have started a new genre, a magical knight princess!"

"Eh, you know who she is?" Gudako asked.

"To be honest, the Ruby with Illya already shared her memories with me through that USB cable, so I already know what's going on. So if you need help saving the world and all, I'll be happy to help. You know, for being the daughter of that evil witch, you're a pretty pleasant person to be around, Ritsuka-chan."

Gudako just shook her head. "Can Illya use both copies of Ruby?" Gudako asked.

"Hmm, I dunno. Lets do this for science~"

"Wait, I never asked for this~~!" Illya exclaimed as the other Ruby forced a contract onto her.

"Eh? It seemed to work." Artoria spoke up as she watched Illya dual-wield both copies of Ruby with no problem.

"Hmm, not bad. Looks like you can channel magical energy even faster now." One of the Rubies spoke up.

"How do we tell the difference between both Rubies now?" Gudako asked.

"Well after the memory transfer between the both of us, we're basically the same now. So it honestly doesn't matter anymore." said left Ruby.

"So just treat us as one weapon, okay Illya?" said right Ruby.

"And also if you ever need to free your other hand, just connect us by the bottom of the handle like this."

The two Rubies bonded together at their base to become a double-ended staff made from both Kaleidosticks.

"Good job, Illya, you look more like a shady Caster with that long staff now." Gudako noted.

"You're not helping at all~!"

* * *

 _Interlude clear!_

Infinite Mana Supply C → Infinite Mana Supply **B**

* * *

True Name: Illyasviel von Einzbern

Class: Caster

Alignment: Neutral Good

Master: Fujimaru Ritsuka

Parameters

Strength: E

Endurance: C

Agility: D

Mana: B

Luck: A

Noble Phantasm: A+

Command Cards: QAAAB

Class Skills

Magic Resistance B: Negates spells with a chant under three verses. Highly resists spells with the rank of High Thaumaturgy and Greater Ritual.

Infinite Mana Supply **B** (originally C): Access to infinite magical energy by drawing on the Second Magic, Kaleidoscope. Even though there is an infinite amount of magic to draw on, it's still limited by the amount that the Kaleidostick can channel at once. Since Illya contracted with a second copy of Kaleidostick Ruby, the skill has ranked up.

Personal Skills

Pleasant-Type Mystic Code A: Since having the Kaleidostick has become an integral part of her identity as a magical girl, this was given as a skill. Can power up buster attacks for one turn.

Child of Nature B: The holder of this skill can be blessed by the World. Become invincible for one turn and increases the rate of Noble Phantasm charging.

Suspicious Medicine A: Illegal-looking drugs made from shady plants that are created by Kaleidostick Ruby. Can clear debuffs and apply Guts effect to survive a fatal blow. Very useful, but it makes Illya do weird things so she refrains from using it if possible.

Noble Phantasm

 **Quintett Feuer -** _Multi-instrumental Saturation Bombardment_

Type: Anti-Unit, **Buster**

Rank: **EX** (originally A+)

A Buster-type Noble Phantasm that converts muscular, nervous, and lymphatic systems as well as her blood vessels into pseudo-Magic Circuits to unleash a massive burst of magical energy. Due to the strain of forcibly channeling magical energy through the entire body, it inflicts an attack and defense down debuff on the user. The skill was originally ranked at A+, but after a training montage involving beating down several divine Servants in Chaldea, Illya has found her resolve to protect her precious people. Without her mentality holding her back, this skill received a rank up from A+ to EX.


	12. Chapter 12

"Ah, welcome back, papa." Gudako greeted as Emiya entered through a window that Gudako had left open on purpose.

"Thanks," Emiya nodded. "I see you made the Bounded Fields around the area more secure."

"It's nothing special," Gudako shrugged. "If we had a proper Caster around then it could be a lot stronger. Anyways, did you find anything on your trip, papa?"

"I ran into a few dragon tooth warriors when I was out, also found a room full of unconscious people. It's pretty obvious that it's Caster's doing."

"We should probably plan some more later. There's like two more hours until they have to get up."

Emiya just nodded. "By the way, where are the other two?"

"Oh, Artoria is guarding the bedroom, and Illya is playing with her new Kaleidostick."

"New Kaleidostick?" Emiya raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, we found the Kaleidostick that belongs to this world sitting in mama's workshop, and it ended up making a contract with Illya, so she has two of them now."

"That Zelretch...somehow, I feel like Rin is going to have a big headache once she wakes..."

"They can still sleep for a few hours. Anyways, if you're going to help us save the world, then..."

Gudako pulled out a big bowl of EXP crystals and slammed it on the table.

"Eat."

* * *

"Mmmhh." Shirou groaned as he slowly woke up. He checked the time to see that he woke up ten minutes early. _Isn't it a bit early to get up?_

"Ah." He tried to move his body only to find it weighed down. He didn't freak out or anything this time, somehow he had gotten accustomed to it. He turned to see Rin's sleeping form latched onto his side.

Shirou brushed off some hair that was on her face, and she ended up leaning into his hand. He gulped. _Was she always this pretty?_ he thought to himself.

"Cute..." he said out loud as he idly rubbed her cheek. _Wait a minute_... Shirou blinked as he looked at Rin's face again. Was she blushing and smiling?

He removed his hand and she immediately stopped smiling.

"Huh..."

He put his hand back on her cheek and started rubbing it again. Rin started smiling again.

 _Interesting..._ he thought as spent the next few minutes giving her head pats and playing with her hair. He found it to be strangely soothing, although he was a bit surprised that Rin didn't wake up.

"Ah, it's time." Shirou pulled away, making Rin pout (not that he noticed). He quickly slipped out of bed and changed into his school clothing.

"Tohsaka, it's time to wake up." Shirou gently called out to the sleepy girl, only to get a muffled groan as a reply.

"Come on, Tohsaka." Shirou squinted his eyes in thought. In a flash, he reached out and started poking at her sides.

"Hyaa?!" Immediately, Rin shot out of bed.

"Oh, you're up, Tohsaka. I didn't know you were ticklish-"

"I am not ticklish!" Rin shot back with a dirty look.

Shirou raised his hands threateningly at her and she immediately squealed and retreated back under the sheets.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, Tohsaka." he smirked at her before turning towards the door.

"Get out of my room!" Rin responded by throwing a pillow at him as he left.

Shirou quickly closed the door behind him. "Wow, did I actually win in an argument against Tohsaka?"

He was about to go downstairs before he froze.

"Wait a minute, wasn't that MY room?"

* * *

The two teens went downstairs to see Emiya sitting at the table and eating a big bowl of _something_ while Illya and Artoria were in the kitchen cooking something.

"Good morning, mama, papa." Gudako greeted the two.

"Good morning, Ritsuka-chan." The both of them gave her a hug and ruffled her hair.

"Eh, Archer isn't cooking today?" Rin asked.

"Ah, the other two wanted to try and make something. Besides, he's currently busy."

They turned to see Archer eating small yellow crystals with a spoon.

"W-what is he eating, exactly?" Rin asked.

"Um..." Gudako looked down in thought. "He's eating protein."

"And why does my Archer need to eat protein?" Rin raised an eyebrow.

"Well, he only has D-rank strength. Don't you think that's kind of low for a grown man?" Gudako replied, causing Archer to choke on his crystals.

"I-" Rin looked like she couldn't tell whether to laugh or to cry. Eventually she settled on laughing while Shirou went over and patted Archer on the back.

"Your words hurt me deeply, Ritsuka." Archer complained.

Soon enough, Artoria and Illya showed up with breakfast, which were just omelettes with random vegetables and meat mixed into it. However, it was clear that a lot of effort and care was put into them.

"Wow, this is really good," Shirou noted, while Rin nodded in agreement.

"It's good. I approve." Emiya commented on the food with a surprised expression, making the two girls beam. Sure, he didn't hesitate to compliment good food, as he says "It's good" or "Your food is delicious" when credit was due, but getting Archer to actually say the words "I approve" was akin to winning a Michelin Star.

"Ehehe, we learned from the best," Illya replied, making Artoria grin at her little inside knowledge. They learned cooking from the Archer in Chaldea, after all.

"By the way, Rin," Illya added, "I kinda, um, made a contract with your Kaleidostick. Ihopeyoudontmind." Illya pulled out her new double-ended Kaleidostick.

Rin just stared at the new staff-like weapon. Then she sighed.

"Well, it's not like I was planning on using it myself. You could probably get more use out of it than I ever could, so just go ahead and use it."

"Yay! Thanks a lot, Rin!" Illya cheered.

Eventually they all finished eating, and they collectively made Archer do the dishes. He didn't even complain this time, at least he had the magical dish soap to make the job super easy.

"Alright, we're off to school." Shirou called out. Archer astralized and hovered next to Rin while Gudako was about to do the same. Before she did, however, she went over to Illya and Artoria with a list of instructions.

"While we're at school, I need you to buy new appliances for papa's kitchen. I have everything listed on this paper here." Gudako pulled out a small list and handed it to Illya.

"If anyone questions you, just use Ruby to hypnotize them or something. Go to the department store over here," Gudako pointed to a location marked on her phone, "and have them ship everything you buy to the house. Hypnotize them so they won't question why two young kids are running around and pay them with these." Gudako pulled out a small pouch of jewels from her phone, "That should cover everything."

"Wow, you really have everything planned out, Master." Saber commented. "Don't worry, we'll get everything done before the end of the day."

"Bye, Ritsuka-chan. We'll see you later!" Illya called out as Gudako astralized to protect Shirou at school.

* * *

School was relatively uneventful for Emiya Shirou. He went in at around 7:40, greeted the guys, nothing interesting although he did make some small talk with Gudako through his mental link. He went into the Student Council Room at lunchtime as usual, although Gudako left him because she said she had to go talk to Archer. He didn't really have any reason to say no, so he let her.

"Hey, Issei, you're not going to eat?"

"No, I already ate. Wake me up when lunch is over, alright? I'm really sleepy." Issei replied as he put his head down.

"Did you stay up late or something? I thought you couldn't do that if you stayed at the temple."

"That's right, but I've been having trouble sleeping lately, and when I do, I don't feel rested. So lately I've been sleeping whenever I get the chance."

"Huh, that's really strange. Well I hope you get better, Issei."

"Yeah, thanks a lot, Emiya."

"Hey, someone's coming in. Kuzuki-sensei?"

"Hello, Emiya-san. I have to speak with Ryudou for a bit, so please excuse me."

The two went to the edge of the room to speak. Shirou didn't want to eavesdrop, though he still heard something about a student not returning home.

Eventually, Kuzuki left the room.

Issei sighs as he walks over to Shirou. "Hey, Emiya, have you seen Shinji today?"

"Shinji? I haven't seen him, is something wrong?"

"I see..." Issei has a strange expression on his face. "We have a missing student in the archery club."

"Eh? Who is it?" Shirou pressed.

"Well, since you're not an outsider, I suppose I can let you know. The person who went missing is..." Issei took a deep breath.

"Mitsuzuri Ayako."

* * *

School is out for the day. Clubs are all canceled, probably due to what happened earlier. Everyone is leaving the school, so it'll probably be empty really soon.

Shirou couldn't just leave things alone, especially when it concerned is good friend Ayako, so he went around and asked some girls in her class if they knew anything, but it turns out they were all told that she was out sick.

Eventually his feet led him to the front of the archery range. As expected, it was locked.

 _Why don't we head home, papa? We can look for clues while we walk back._ Gudako spoke through their mental link.

"That's a good idea, Ritsuka-chan. There doesn't seem to be anything left, so we might as well leave."

The two went back into the building. The sun was already setting and the surroundings were lit with an orange glow.

"Let's go, Ritsuka-chan. Maybe Fuji-nee will have more info." Shirou said as he grabbed his bag. Gudako just silently nodded through their mental link as they were leaving.

As Shirou walked down the stairs, he heard a noise. When he turned around, he saw Rin standing at the top of the stairs.

"Oh, hey Tohsaka. I didn't know you were still here."

Rin just sighs. She looks back down at Shirou, who was suddenly taken aback by the angry expression on her face.

"Coming to school without your Servant. Are you sane?"

"Wait, what are you-"

 _Just play along. I'll explain later._

"Urm, yeah. I didn't want Ritsuka to get hurt, so-"

"Then skip school. It's like asking for others to kill you if a Master is walking without its Servant. …Do you know how stupid you are, Emiya-kun?"

 _What the hell is going on?!_ "Don't say ridiculous things. Masters don't fight in front of people, right? Then it's out of the question to fight during daytime, and at a school at that."

 _I'll explain once you start running, papa._

"Oh, then let me ask you. Are there people watching us now?"

Shirou looked around. Sure enough, the surroundings were completely devoid of human life.

"Jeez, looks like you finally understand." Rin looked rather angry as she rolled up her sleeve, revealing her glowing Magic Crest on her arm.

"You know what this is, right? This is a crystallization of the magic passed down my family. I can cast any magic carved on here just by filling it with magical energy."

The Magic Crest is a set of special Circuits that are passed from generation to generation within a magus family. It's basically the claim to magecraft that a family has, as each generation inherits the Crest, and adds their research and a small portion of their own Circuits onto it before passing it down to the next heir. It allows for instant casting of the spells engraved within the Crest by simply channeling prana through it.

"I told Archer to go home. The 'Gandr in my Crest should be enough for you." Rin speaks with an emotionless voice. Shirou immediately realizes she's completely serious.

"H-Hold on, Tohsaka! Are you insane? This is the school! Who knows who'll come up if we make a commotion...!"

"I'll think about it when that happens. I don't let chances in front of me slip by. I'm sorry, but I'm taking care of you right here and now. And besides, I don't think I can stand having you walk about carelessly."

"I-I said hold on! I don't have any intention of fighting you!"

"I do even if you don't! Just prepare yourself, Shirou!"

Rin takes aim with her pointer finger and sends a black bolt flying at Shirou, who immediately starts to run.

 _Okay, I'm running! Now you better explain what's going on!_

 _Alright, papa. This is basically what happened..._

* * *

 _Earlier, during lunch_

"Ritsuka, Rin has been going through a lot of emotional turmoil lately. She may not show it, but as her Servant, I can feel her emotions to a certain extent."

Gudako just nodded.

"You see, she's a magus through and through. To that end, she's prepared to kill anyone who stands between her and the Grail. You know that, right?"

Gudako nodded again.

"But then you and Shirou show up out of nowhere and end up in the war. If it was only Shirou, she could handle it, but with you around..."

"Ah, I get what you mean, papa. She doesn't want to hurt me and papa."

"So, I may have told her to fight Shirou."

"What?! Are you still trying to kill your younger self, papa?!" Gudako yelled at him, making him wince. For some reason, hearing Gudako yell at him hurt him more than he thought it would.

"No, there's no point. You should know that this Emiya Shirou is already set down a different path with you around. And usually, I wouldn't be pushing for her to do this sort of thing..."

Gudako just begrudgingly nodded.

"Now, listen to me. She needs to get this out of her system or else this'll be hanging over her head. If she doesn't, her inner conflict is going to drive her mad."

"So, that's why you..."

"You get what I mean now, right? Don't worry, she won't kill Shirou. She might think she can, but between you and me, we both know that's not true."

Archer gave a real smile.

"After all, you know how kind she actually is, don't you?"

* * *

 _To think that Tohsaka was feeling this way, I never noticed! I understand now._

 _That's why me and Archer made this plan, so she could vent and sort out her feelings. All you have to do is keep running. Don't worry, I won't let you get hurt._

Shirou kept ducking and weaving from the Gandrs as he continued to run. He tried to run to the first floor, only for Rin to cut him off by jumping down from the floor above.

"Wow, you're pretty agile, Tohsaka."

Rin responds with a Gandr, which Shirou promptly jumps away from. He turns around and starts running into the opposite hallway.

 _Turn left 5 doors down, papa._

He did as he was told and entered the classroom there.

 _Go next to the window and hide behind a desk there._

He scrambled over to a desk by the window and tipped it to the ground to use it as a barricade.

 _Get ready to reinforce it._

Rin came running into the room and set up a Bounded Field over the area to prevent noise from leaving.

She starts chanting a spell as a large amount of magical energy course through her Magic Crest. Shirou feels his nerves burn as he converts one into a Magic Circuit.

 _Oh boy. Papa, we're going to have to fix that issue of yours later._

 _Huh? What are you talking about?_

 _Never mind that, just get ready to defend._

Rin starts firing a supercharged curse powerful enough to be seen by the naked eye. The moment before she does, Shirou swore that there were tears in her eyes.

At the same moment, he reinforces the table he's hiding behind as the explosions start coming.

"Ugh, such power!" Shirou grits his teeth as he pours his prana into the reinforcement magecraft.

"At this rate, I'll run out of energy, Ritsuka!" he shouts over the loud explosions.

Suddenly, he felt a comforting touch on his shoulder. He turned to see that Ritsuka had materialized while there was too much smoke and noise for Rin to notice her.

"Open your mouth," she said as she pulled out a Golden Apple and shoved it into Shirou's mouth.

"Mmmmmph?!" Shirou managed to bite down on the fruit, and immediately he feels like all of his energy was replenished, both physical and magical.

"Go papa, push the table forward and knock her down!" she shouted as she astralized again.

"HYAAAAA!" With his revitalized muscles, he lifted the table and charged forward, sending both Rin and himself flying out of the classroom and into the hallway. The two of them tumbled across the floor until they came to a stop, with Shirou pinning down Rin by the arms.

"I-impossible, you shouldn't have that much energy left!"

"That's a secret. Now, are you still going to try and kill me, Tohsaka?" Shirou asked as he pressed down harder on the thrashing girl.

"L-let go!"

To her surprise, Shirou actually lets go of her as they both get on their feet.

"If you still want to kill me, then go ahead and do it right now. If that will make you happy, then do it." Shirou takes Rin's hand and makes it point at his chest.

 _Papa, this wasn't part of the-_

 _I know, Ritsuka, but you and Archer said it yourselves, right? That Tohsaka wouldn't kill me._

 _...okay._

Rin's expression morphed from bewildered, to angered, to determined, until her face fell into an incredibly pained expression.

She had the curse charged up on her fingertip, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fire it. She looked at Shirou's smiling face. Even when someone was literally pointing a lethal spell right at his chest, his stupid smile wouldn't fade. The curse faded away as she sank to her knees.

"I...I-I can't do it! WHY CAN'T I DO IT?! All my life, I knew the Grail War would be coming, so WHY?!"

"It's because you're a good person, Tohsaka."

She looked up to see Shirou get down to his knees and hug her.

"I...I..." Rin couldn't hold back as she started to cry into his shoulder.

"I'm a terrible person, Shirou! I saved you and hoped that you wouldn't get dragged into this war, but then you went ahead and summoned a Servant! I was supposed to k-kill you for the Grail, but hanging out with you and Ritsuka-chan, I was happy! For once I didn't feel like I was completely alone anymore, but I was still greedy and wanted the Grail! I was confused, I thought that if I just killed your Servant, I wouldn't have to hurt you, but then you had to summon our own daughter, you idiot! I'm a terrible person, I just tried to kill you and you're okay with that?! I thought I-I could just kill you so I wouldn't have to hurt Ritsuka-chan and I'm so confused right now! I don't want to have to fight you and Ritsuka-chan at the end of the war and I don't even know anymore! I feel trapped! What's next, someone will tell me that my Archer is a future version of you or something?!"

Rin started bawling as Shirou could only comfort her and try to calm her down while she kept rambling on about how she didn't want to hurt either him or Ritsuka and how she felt trapped between her own feelings and her duty as a magus.

"Now, Rin, I forgive you, okay? I'm sure we'll work something out."

"H-how can you do that! You trusted me and I just tried to backstab you like I said I would! I-I don't deserve to be around you or Ritsuka anymore!"

"Don't say that. I gave you the chance to kill me and you didn't take it, that shows me that you are a good person, alright? I'm sure our daughter forgives you too, isn't that right, Ritsuka?"

Gudako materialized right next to Rin and hugged her.

"It's okay, mama. We know you didn't want to do it. Besides, you can be a magus and still be a good person at the same time. That's what you told me in the future."

"Uuuu...Uwahhhh! I'm so sorry, Ritsuka-chan! I'm a terrible mother!"

The little family of three just kept on holding each other until Rin calmed down.


	13. Chapter 13

The three were cut off from their hugging by a sudden, piercing scream.

Almost immediately, Shirou begins to run towards the stairs leading down.

"Emiya-kun? Do you know where the scream came from?" Rin shouted as she followed him.

"All I know is that it came from downstairs! Can you life your Bounded Field?"

"Oh, right. There we go." She quickly lifted the boundary as they rushed downstairs.

"!" They find a girl collapsed next to the emergency exit. Shirou ran over to the girl and began checking her body.

"I don't see any wounds, but she looks awfully pale. Will she be alright?"

"No, her life force has been drained. This is even worse than the people that got attacked by Caster... she'll die if we leave her alone."

"What?! She'll die?!"

"Don't worry, I have a stone here somewhere that should do the trick..." Rin muttered as she quickly checked her pockets.

"No need, mama, I have plenty." Gudako pulled out a few mass-produced jewels from her own supply.

Shirou and Rin sigh with relief as they watch Gudako cast some healing magecraft with her jewels to restore the girl's life energy. It wasn't perfect, but it would heal her to the point where she could start to recover on her own.

While Shirou was trying to make sense of the situation, he suddenly senses something flying at Rin.

"Tohsaka, watch out!"

He shoves Rin out of the way as a black dagger-like weapon sinks into his arm. The chain connected to it yanks back, pulling the weapon out and leaving a hole behind.

"Oh my gosh, Shirou!" Rin immediately starts fretting over him. "You're bleeding so much! Doesn't it hurt?"

"Yeah, it hurts. It hurts a lot." Shirou grits his teeth.

Gudako looked back and forth between the door and her papa. She immediately decided that healing her papa was more important.

"First Aid." Gudako channeled her magical energy into her Chaldean Uniform and stopped Shirou's bleeding, though it didn't regrow any lost flesh since he was a human and the spells from her Mystic Codes were meant for Servants.

"Trace on." She held out her hand as she projected a roll of sterile bandages.

Rin and Shirou watched in amazement as her small hands quickly wrapped up Shirou's wound with practiced ease. Gudako secured the bandage with a knot before casting a simple reinforcement on it to make sure they wouldn't rip or tear.

"That was definitely a Servant. Let's go, but make sure to stay behind me, papa." Gudako ordered the two Masters before she started to run off.

"Wait, I don't have a weapon." Shirou called out.

Gudako looked down in thought before her eyes lit up in realization. A gray portal opened next to her hand as she reached in and pulled out an Azoth Sword.

"Here you go, papa." she said as she handed the blade to Shirou. "Don't worry about breaking it, I have plenty of those."

"Thank you, Ritsuka-chan." He took the blade. It felt right to hold a sword in his hand for some reason, though he felt like it would be more natural if he could hold one in each hand. But his other arm was too injured to be holding anything anyways, so he quickly pushed the thought out of his mind.

"Rin, can you please watch over the girl? Me and Ritsuka will go chase down the attacker." Shirou asked.

Rin sighed before replying.

"Fine, but you better not get yourselves killed. I-I don't know what I'd do if I lost you two." she muttered the last part.

By the time she looked back up, the Gudako and Shirou had already ran off.

"Jeez, she really takes after Emiya-kun, running off like that."

* * *

The two quickly made their way out of the building and followed the magical trail into the woods behind the archery range.

They see a purple-haired person in the distance.

"Shinji, is that you?!" Shirou exclaimed.

Almost immediately, a black nail-like dagger flew straight at Shirou's throat.

It never hit its mark, however, as Gudako parried it with a set of Black Keys in her hand. By the time the attack was blocked, Shinji was nowhere to be seen.

The Servant jumped out of the way as she landed on the ground.

It was a tall, blindfolded woman with long, lavender hair and wore revealing black clothing.

"...Rider." Gudako muttered.

"Oh? You know who I am? Actually, now that I look closer, you really are a Servant. I didn't even notice until you came up close to me." Rider replied.

Gudako said nothing as two portals appeared by her hands. She quickly pulled two Azoth Swords into her hands as she got into a dual wielding stance.

"A Saber? No, something seems off. But it doesn't matter." Rider replied as she threw her nail at Gudako.

She immediately parried the incoming nail and struck back. The two traded blows, with Gudako emulating Archer's infuriating fighting style to keep herself from getting hit.

 _Darn it,_ Gudako thought to herself, _Rider_ _is too fast, I can't even catch a break to summon my Servants here!_

* * *

"Emiya-kun!" Rin arrived on the scene just in time to see Gudako pull out her two Azoth Swords and settle into her stance. For some reason, that stance seemed awfully familiar to her!

"Hey, Tohsaka. She's fighting right now."

They turned and watched as Gudako clashed furiously with Rider.

"Eh? Why isn't she summoning her backup?" Rin asked nervously.

 _Darn it,_ _Rider_ _is too fast, I can't even catch a break to summon my Servants here!_ Gudako's mental thoughts are heard by Shirou.

"Ah, she says Rider is too fast so she doesn't have time to summon them. We need to distract her somehow."

Rin immediately pulls out a handful of jewels, but she struggles to aim them as she didn't want to hit Gudako as well.

"Damn it, should I use a Command Spell?" Rin calls out.

Out of the corner of her eye, Gudako sees her mama trying to aim.

As Rider brings her nails down once more, Gudako rolls out of the way, quickly carving an Ansuz rune into the dirt as she does.

" _Ansuz!_ Mama, now!"

The rune on the floor erupts into a small tower of flame, making Rider quickly take a step back and allowing Rin to throw her jewels at her. Rider immediately dodges, allowing Gudako the time to gather enough magical energy to pull Archer to her side. She didn't want to reveal her own Saber or Caster yet if she could help it.

Out of nowhere, Archer appeared and immediately traces Kanshou and Bakuya.

"Archer, lets go!" Gudako calls out as Archer takes over her fight. Instead of controlling him with Command Cards, this time she opts to support him by firing miscellaneous objects at Rider.

Archer did a much better job at fighting, since Gudako lacked the experience in direct combat. Though Rider was fast enough to be nothing but a blur as she hopped from branch to branch, Archer's Eye of the Mind was enough to dodge all of her attacks. Every time there was a lull in combat, Gudako would blast Rider with Black Keys and other pointy objects constructed from her low-ranking Craft Essences.

Meanwhile, Rin's brain was working overtime as she mentally compared Archer's fighting style to Gudako's movements earlier.

 _The way they fought using two swords was the same - n_ _o. No, it can't be._ Rin thought to herself.

"Look, a distraction!" Gudako called out as she prepared to fire a Book of False Attendant.

"Little girl, do you think that would actually-"

Gudako fired a life-sized replica of Matou Shinji and nailed Rider in the face.

Everyone paused.

Gudako didn't relent as she continued firing Matou Shinjis at Rider, who snapped out of her stupor and quickly cut all of the incoming Shinjis down.

"This is oddly soothing..." she muttered to herself as she decapitated an incoming Shinji.

Archer was the next person to snap out of it as he charged at Rider once again.

"Tch, I don't feel like fighting anymore." Rider turned around and quickly tried to retreat.

"Oh no you don't!" Gudako put her C+++ agility to good use as she rushed to grab Rider. Actually she wasn't aiming to grab Rider, per se, she was actually aiming to grab her clothing.

 _ ***rip***_

She stripped Rider as her clothing tore off in Gudako's hands. To her credit, Rider didn't seem to visibly react as she just channeled some magical energy to reform her clothes as she ran off.

"Ah, she got away."

Gudako quickly stuffed the torn clothing away in her phone. She turned around to see a treasure chest on the ground where Rider stood earlier.

With a small grunt, she pried off the lid, revealing two Saint Quartz inside.

"Two...not bad." she mumbled to herself as she tucked it away in her phone for a total of nine. "Is everyone okay?" she called out.

"Yeah, we're all fine, just tired. I feel like I'm about to fall over." Shirou replied.

"Kid, what happened to your arm?" Archer asked as he looked at Shirou's bandaged arm.

"Rider got me in the arm earlier with one of those nails. Ritsuka patched me up, but I should probably get this arm treated."

"If only I had been paying more attention, papa wouldn't have gotten hurt." Gudako looks down sadly.

"It's not your fault. You were busy healing that girl. Besides, that attack was meant for me, so thanks for saving me, Emiya-kun. Looks like I owe you again." Rin replied softly.

"Ah, it was nothing, Tohsaka. But it would be really nice if I could get this treated soon, it still hurts, you know."

"Let's go to mama's house for now so we can fix papa's arm."

* * *

Once they arrived, Rin immediately had Shirou lay down on one of the couches and gently undid the bandage on his arm. As she took it off, it dissolved into motes of prana.

"Well, at least it's not bleeding, but I don't think I have anything that can regrow flesh..." Rin muttered.

"Oh, I have just the thing, mama." Gudako pulled out her copy of Rin's Pendant. "It's our family heirloom."

Gudako used some of the magical energy within the jewel to create new flesh for Shirou's arm.

"Family heirloom? You mean this thing?" Shirou reached into his pocket with his good arm and pulled out an identical pendant. "Wait, then that means Tohsaka was the one to save me...!"

Rin blushed fiercely as she realized her cover was blown. "Y-yeah, it was me. I couldn't just leave you to die on the ground like that, so I used the magic in the jewel to build you a new heart..."

"Wow... thank you, Tohsaka." Shirou put his hand over his heart. "That's the nicest thing someone has ever done for me, I didn't even know you gave me a new heart."

Rin somehow blushed even harder. "I-it's not like I did it for you, idiot. It was for- I mean... never mind."

Rin sighed, then blinked.

"Wait a minute."

Rin reached into her bag and pulled out an identical pendant.

"If Emiya-kun has that pendant, then what is this...?"

Suddenly, all the pieces clicked into place in Rin's brain. Archer apparently had his own copy of the pendant. Archer's kindness towards Gudako, their similar two-sword style. _They both used projection._ If Shirou always held onto that pendant, then that means...!

"Archer, tell me where you got this pendant from."

"Ah, so it looks like I've been caught. To think my charade ends here because the idiot got stabbed in the arm, truly, my E-rank luck strikes again. Isn't that right, Ritsuka?"

"Just go tell them who you are, papa. Or else mama might get mad and waste a Command Seal or something like that."

 _No way, this can't be real. But Ritsuka-chan called Archer 'papa'. I can't believe it...!_ Rin's mind was starting to overload.

"Well, I guess there's really no point in stalling anymore, I guess. Very well, then."

Archer pauses for a moment before he continues.

"I was known as Emiya Shirou in life. Basically, I'm him from the future."

 _*thud*_

"Ah, mama fainted."

"Should I have been less blunt about it? Nah, that's not my style."

"You know, she's going to ask a bunch of questions later."

"At least she fainted, which gives me some time to prepare a decent story."

"Eh? Papa, are you okay?"

"Ah, Shirou has the thousand-yard stare on his face. Is it really that traumatizing?"

"If I found out that my future self turned out like you, I'd be traumatized too, Archer-papa."

"Your words wound me, my dear daughter."


	14. Chapter 14

"Uh oh, it's getting pretty dark outside." Gudako looked out the window to see that the sky was visibly dim.

"Go ahead and take the idiot home. I'll deal with the little spitfire here when she wakes." Archer replied.

"Will you be okay? I don't want mama to grill you."

"I've already dealt with her plenty of times, it won't be a problem. Alternate timelines and all, you know. I just wasn't prepared to reveal myself so soon, but I can handle it."

Gudako just nodded in understanding.

"I'll be on my way then, papa." Gudako picked the shell-shocked Shirou up in a bridal carry and prepared to leave through the front door.

"Be safe, Ritsuka. Remember to call when you get home."

"Don't worry, I will."

* * *

She used her Servant strength and proceeded to jump across rooftops on the fastest path home.

When she was about a minute away from home, Shirou finally snapped out of his stupor, probably because of all the wind blasting into his face due to the speed Gudako was jumping at.

"Eh, what happened?"

"Don't worry about it, we'll probably tell you everything tomorrow. We're almost home, hang in there, papa."

Soon enough, they arrived on the front door of the Emiya residence.

"How's your arm, papa?"

"Oh! It's fine, just a bit sore and stiff. Thanks a lot, Ritsuka-chan."

Gudako just nodded as the two entered the house.

"Oh, welcome home, Senpai! And you too, Ritsuka-chan." Sakura came out and greeted the two.

"Thank you, Sakura. Sorry I'm late, I got too caught up in showing Ritsuka-chan around town." Shirou lied smoothly. His eyes widened when he realized that he was staring at a remodeled kitchen.

Sakura giggled. "That's fine, Senpai. We're having stew tonight at Fujimura-sensei's request. By the way, I didn't know that you had your kitchen remodeled until Artoria-san and Illya-chan told me."

As if right on cue, Illya came running towards the living room. She was wearing a blue Arts hoodie and a black skirt.

"Ritsuka-chan! And Shirou-nii..."

It was clear that she was holding herself back from jumping at Shirou.

Gudako saw a look of pure confusion on Shirou's face, so she decided to handle the talking.

"Ah, my adopted family from Europe decided to send some money to get a new kitchen installed after they realized how amazing Shirou-kun's cooking was."

"And we had a kotatsu installed in the guest bedroom. Japanese culture sure is amazing. It's like all of your worries melt away~" Artoria added as she came into the living room. She was wearing a red Buster hoodie and sweatpants.

"You got a new kotatsu? Good job." Gudako gave a thumbs up.

"Wow, all of this new stuff looks so... expensive." Shirou numbly added as he stared at all of the new appliances and cooking implements.

"Don't worry about it, Shirou! It didn't cost too much, so don't worry." Artoria replied.

"Here, Senpai, why don't we go cook together in this new kitchen? We have to make extra since there's so many people tonight." Sakura grabbed Shirou's hand and pulled him off to the kitchen.

Gudako quickly motioned for her two Servants to head to the guest bedroom. They all settled down under the shiny new kotatsu.

"So I'm guessing everything went off without a hitch?"

"Yep! We had Ruby brainwash all the salespeople at the department store and paid for everything with the jewels you left us." Illya cheerfully replied.

"We didn't even know they could ship everything so fast. King David was right, money really _does_ talk." Artoria added. "Although we forgot to buy new outfits, which is why we're wearing these hoodies..."

"Don't worry, we can buy them next time." Gudako decided to change into a gray Extra Attack hoodie. "With my large pile of jewels, we shouldn't have to worry about money at all. And if for some reason we need more cash..."

Gudako stuck out her hand and proceeded to project a small stack of cash.

"We can always do this."

"Eh? That sounds illegal." Illya replied.

Gudako shrugged as she let the bundle of cash dissolve into prana. "If it'll help us survive, then so be it. I can easily project paper money durable enough to last for several months. It's not like paper is particularly hard to project with my skills."

"Hmm, if you say so..."

"Oh, by the way, could you pull Ruby out? I need to recharge this jewel." Gudako asked as she pulled out her pendant.

"Yeah, sure." Illya summoned Ruby as Gudako plugged the pendant into the base of the handle.

"Woah, this gem is pretty drained." Ruby spoke up as she started recharging the pendant with prana pulled from parallel worlds. "What did you have to cast with it?"

"Ah, papa got a hole in his arm so I had to use the pendant to replace his flesh."

"WHAT?!" Illya shouted. Artoria also looked worried.

"Don't worry, he's fine. Also, I promised Archer-papa that I would call him. Mama figured out who he was, and she fainted."

"Aw, I wish I had been there to witness that." Artoria replied.

"Same, watching Rin freak out must be the funniest thing ever." Illya replied as well.

Gudako started dialing the phone number for the Tohsaka residence on her smartphone.

"Hello, this is Tohsaka speaking." Archer's voice came from the other end of the line.

"Hi papa. Is mama awake yet?"

"No, she's still out. I have no idea when she'll be up, the shock was probably too big for her to handle at once."

"Is that so? Well, let me know when she finishes yelling at you."

"Yes, yes, I'll be sure to remember that after she chews me out."

"I'm guessing you have the phone number for the Emiya house already? I can give you the number for my cell phone if you ever want to call me directly, papa."

"Yeah, sure. That sounds like a good idea."

"Okay, you might want to get a pen and paper for this." Gudako started reciting a long 20-digit chain of numbers, pounds and asterisks.

"What's with this ridiculously long phone number?" Archer asked.

"It's a miracle of magecraft and science that my phone even works. Besides, it's not like I chose to have such a long number."

"Fair enough, I guess. I'll see you later then, Ritsuka."

"Okay, papa. Take care."

Gudako hung up and turned around.

"Ruby, how long will it take to recharge the pendant completely?"

"It should only take around an hour. It's a delicate process, I can't pump prana into it too quickly or it might explode. This pendant is basically a high-grade Noble Phantasm if you choose to detonate it like a bomb."

Gudako nodded in response. "That's fine, just take your time. We're in no rush right now."

* * *

"I see, so that's what happened." Shirou commented as Taiga finished explaining that they found Ayako slightly confused but otherwise unharmed. "That's good. I guess I'll ask her myself once she's all better."

Shirou turned around and went back to Sakura, who was busy tending to the stew.

"Sakura, can I talk to you for a bit?"

"Of course, Senpai. What is it?"

"Do you know what's up with Shinji?"

"Um... I'm sorry, Senpai. I usually leave for school early so I don't really pay attention to what he's up to. I heard that he skipped school today."

"No, don't be sorry. It's fine, I can't possibly expect you to know what he's always up to anyways."

"I should still know more than anyone else about what nii-san is up to, so I should have known why he skipped school..." Sakura said softly.

"Hmm, did I really see Shinji in the woods, though?" Shirou muttered to himself, not quite aware that Sakura could hear him. "He wouldn't order Rider to eat people...would he?"

Sakura stumbled and nearly knocked the pot of stew off the stove.

"Woah, Sakura! Are you okay?!" Shirou quickly moved next to Sakura and made sure she was alright.

"A-ah... yes, I'm okay..."

"No you're not, you're shaking."

Sakura looked at her hand to see that she was, indeed, trembling rather hard.

"I... I..."

"Hey, Sakura, why don't you stay over for the night?"

"E-eh?"

"You don't look too well. And besides, you can help me out if you did stay."

Sakura blushed and averted her eyes.

"I-if that's what Senpai wants, then I'll do it."

"Just go take a break in the guest bedroom, okay? I'll let you know when dinner is ready."

Sakura just nodded and slowly made her way to the guest bedroom.

* * *

"No way... Senpai can't be in the Holy Grail War... right?" Sakura kept muttering to herself over and over as she walked towards the guest bedroom. She didn't think anyone would be inside, so she just opened the door.

Gudako and Artoria were lounging around under the kotatsu.

Illya was bashing Ruby on the ground for some inappropriate comment again.

"Ah-"

Everyone stared at each other awkwardly.

Gudako was the first one to speak up.

"Illya is actually really into anime and magical girls."

Illya was blushing furiously. She couldn't even pin the blame on Ruby, as the wand had immediately fallen silent as soon as the door started to open. At least she wasn't transformed into her magical girl form, or else she would have a much harder time explaining herself.

"W-well, we all have our interests and hobbies, right?" Sakura replied, which just made Illya bury herself into the kotatsu.

"Kousai-san, are you okay? You look a bit pale." Gudako asked.

"Kouhai-san? Me?" Sakura pointed at herself, and Gudako nodded.

"Well, I'm fine, really. It's nothing." Sakura replied.

"Wanna come in?" Gudako pointed at the last unoccupied side of the kotatsu. Sakura slowly sat under to kotatsu and sighed as she let the heat envelope her lower half.

"Now, why don't you tell us about your worries, Sakura?" Artoria kindly asked.

"Ah- it's just that I'm worried for Senpai since it's been dangerous out at night lately. I hope he'll avoid staying out too late, but he likes to stay after school to help with the club and other activities. Sometimes I wonder if he ever does anything for himself, to be honest."

"Well I'm sure he can protect himself. He has muscles. I bet pa- Shirou-kun secretly works out." Gudako replied, making the other three blush.

"A-and how would you know that?" Sakura asked while covering her face.

"It was a hot day and he was fixing stuff outside, so he took off his shirt. He told me he would only do it if no one else was around." Gudako told a half truth. Technically, he did tell her that, except it would be years into the future.

"I-I see..." Sakura muttered.

 _"Dinner's ready!"_ Shirou's voice called out.

"Woohoo! Let's go!" Artoria excitedly got up and ran towards the living room.

"Everyone likes his cooking." Gudako told Sakura as Illya ran after Artoria.

"Yes, Senpai's cooking skills are really amazing, isn't it?" Sakura cheerfully replied. At least she felt better now; maybe everything will be alright after all.

* * *

"Woo! That's some good stuff!" Taiga enthusiastically shouted after eating all of Shirou and Sakura's cooking.

"Yes, your cooking is excellent as usual, Emiya-senpai. Can I have seconds?" Artoria asked.

"Why do you refer to Shirou as Emiya-senpai?" Taiga asked as Artoria began eating another serving.

"Ah, I'm still in the process of learning Japanese, and also he is older than me, so that's why I thought it would be appropriate to refer to him as my Senpai."

"Really? Personally, I think your Japanese is excellent for a foreigner. Where were you from again, Europe?"

"Yes, me and Illyasviel are both from Europe. Somehow, our family ended up adopting Ritsuka, so she has been living with us ever since. When we heard that she still had a living relative, we immediately arranged to get in touch with Emiya-senpai here."

"Oh, I see. That's good to know. Ever since his adopted father passed away, he's been living by himself. Even though me and Sakura make sure to check up on him often, I'm sure it's not the same as having a family around."

"Don't worry, Fuji-nee, I still see you and Sakura as family. Even if you make me go over the food budget every once in a while."

"Oi, what's that supposed to mean?!"

While Shirou and Taiga were playfully bickering, Illya , Artoria, and Gudako were eating even faster.

"Ahh, I just wanna live here and eat onii-chan's cooking every day~" Illya sighed.

"Onii-chan?" Sakura asked.

"Yep! I've decided that I am going to call him onii-chan from now on!" Illya declared, making Sakura giggle.

 _If only these happy days would last forever..._ she thought to herself.

Suddenly, she heard a hiss of pain coming from Shirou.

"Senpai, are you alright?" she worriedly asked.

"Ah, Shirou-kun hit his arm on something earlier." Gudako said. "It's probably still a little sensitive."

"Eh? Lemme see." Artoria stopped her eating and reached over to get a better look at Shirou's arm, which was still slightly red where the original wound had been.

As soon as she made physical contact with him, Shirou immediately started to feel better as he saw the red spot shrink before his very eyes.

Artoria quickly turned around and looked at Gudako and Illya, who both saw what happened. If Taiga or Sakura had noticed, they didn't say anything.

"Ah, my arm feels better now, though. I just have to avoid using it too much and it'll be fine." Shirou looked calm on the outside as he quickly contacted Gudako through their mental link.

 _What was that?! My arm literally fixed itself as soon as Artoria touched it!_

Artoria had a strange expression on her face as Gudako carefully replied.

 _We need to talk to you after dinner. We're not sure yet, but Artoria can only think of one thing that would react like that to her._


	15. Chapter 15 - Insane Summoning

_Interlude - When E luck meets EX luck_

* * *

After everyone ate up, Sakura offered to do the dishes while Gudako dragged Shirou away, with the other Servants in tow. They all gathered in Shirou's bedroom, where Gudako quickly threw up a Bounded Field that would repel people, and prevent noise and magical energy from leaving the boundary.

"Okay, papa. Just sit still and let me analyze you."

Shirou did as he was told as Gudako performed Structural Analysis on him. After while, she looked back at Artoria and nodded.

"I-is something wrong with me?" Shirou asked nervously.

"No, nothing's wrong, papa. It's probably faster if we just show you."

Artoria reached over with her hand over Shirou's chest, and pulled.

 _*yoink*_

They all stared at a beautiful blue and gold sheath.

"Wait, is _that_ the thing I always feel when I try to analyze myself?!"

"Yeah, that's probably it." Gudako replied as everyone continued to stare at the beautiful sheath. In Artoria's hands, it glowed softly as though it was overjoyed at being reunited with its rightful owner, even if she was a bit young.

"This is Avalon, the magical scabbard of King Arthur. In other words, it's mine. Or rather, it would become mine. Since I'm in my younger form, it technically isn't mine yet." Artoria giggled.

"That's amazing, but... what is it doing in my body?"

"It was probably because of grandpa."

"Grandpa? Kiritsugu?"

"Avalon has powerful regenerative abilities. As long as it's near a source of my own magical energy, it'll keep on healing whoever carries the sheath. It was probably dormant for most of the time it was inside you, but making direct contact with me probably reawakened Avalon again."

Images of the fire flash through Shirou's mind.

"You mean papa put Avalon into onii-chan?" Illya asked.

"I can't believe it! So that's how the old man saved me...!"

Suddenly he missed his old man very much.

"To think that he went to such lengths to save me... but enough of that. The sheath belongs to you, so it's only right if I return it to you, right?"

Artoria shook her head in response.

"I'm sure we would all feel better if you held on to it, isn't that right?" she asked, making Gudako and Illya nod. "May my sheath keep you safe, Emiya-senpai."

Artoria gently pushed Avalon to Shirou's chest as it sank back into his body, this time fully activated.

"By the way, is my magical energy reaching over to Shirou through you, Master?" Artoria asked.

"No, I've been using Independent Manifestation to cut our connection to make sure he doesn't sustain us most of the time. The only connection we have is the mental link so we can communicate with our mind. If I turned off Independent Manifestation, papa would probably keel over and die from trying to anchor us." Gudako replied, making Shirou frown.

"Wait, if I made more Magic Circuits, could I supply more prana for you three?"

The three girls looked at each other strangely.

"Oh, papa has been using his nerves as makeshift Circuits, hasn't he." It didn't sound like a question, it was more of a statement.

Gudako projected a blackboard and shifted into the Tohsaka Rin lecture pose, inherited straight from her mother.

"Looks like I have to teach papa a lesson."

* * *

After roughly an hour of nonstop lecturing on why you shouldn't use your nerves as disposable Magic Circuits (though Artoria and Illya found it to be rather educational), Gudako ended up borrowing Ruby from Illya and had the Kaleidostick jumpstart Shirou's natural Circuits by zapping his body with a large burst of prana, leaving him twitching on the ground due to also giving a rather large jolt to his nervous system.

"Um, Avalon will heal that, right?" Gudako asked Artoria nervously.

"Of course, now that it's running at full power, he should be all better right about... now."

As if right on cue, Shirou stopped twitching as his nervous system got itself together.

"Ugh... so this is what it feels like to use my actual Circuits... at least I don't have to feel like inserting a hot iron rod into my spine anymore."

Gudako nodded. "Just use your usual mental trigger and it should work just fine."

Shirou stuck out his hand as he imagined firing the hammer of a gun. For some reason he wanted to think about a sword.

"Trace... on."

A short sword appeared in his hand.

"Huh, neat. No more burning pain to use my magecraft! Now I can fight better without dealing with the pain."

"That's good. It's getting late, you should probably go sleep, papa."

"Yes, you're right. After everything that happened today, I'm pretty tired." Shirou replied with a yawn.

"Can you two watch over papa tonight? I still haven't set up my territory yet. And also, I was thinking about doing some more summons."

"Of course. Me and Artoria will watch over onii-chan." Illya replied.

"Papa, is it okay if I convert your shed into a My Room?"

"A what?"

"Oh, in simple terms, it's going to be a base for Servants to heal and recover. Think of it as a Workshop dedicated to Servants."

"Go ahead, I don't mind if it'll make the house safer. Oh, do you need the key to get into the shed?"

"No, I can get in, so don't worry."

"In that case, I'll leave the security to you three. Good night, everyone."

"Good night, Emiya-senpai/onii-chan/papa."

* * *

Gudako hummed to herself as she projected the key for Shirou's shed and opened the lock, before letting it dissolve back into prana. Secure, practical, and easy to use, just like Archer-papa taught her.

Looking around the messy interior, she pulled out a few jewels and placed them throughout the shed, using them as a makeshift light source as the slow release of prana provided a good amount of light. It would have to do until she could craft a better light source.

Gudako quickly got to work as she threw up a Bounded Field designed to repel non-magi around the entire shed. She was no Caster, with a Territory Creation of D-rank for constructing a conventional magus Workshop, she was incapable of creating the fancy stuff like autonomous magecraft security systems or turning the shed into an absolute fortress of death (not that she would want to do that). But when it came to setting up a My Room, she could take full advantage of EX Territory Creation which includes things like drawing Servant summoning circles and anchoring Saint Graphs so her Servants wouldn't be erased in the event that they got killed.

She scurried around the shed as she rearranged boxes, blasted out all the dust with her household chores jewel magecraft, and made space for a few beds. She was intending to convert the rather large shed into a Servant safehouse that was separate from the main residence.

Once she was done tidying up all the boxes and shelves, she made a mental note to buy a few more beds and kotatsus. She was about to move the random appliances laying around the floor that Shirou had been working on, but then she figured that she could summon a Servant first, and then have them help her move the things. Yes, that was a better plan, she decided.

* * *

Sakura decided to get out of bed to grab some water to drink. The fact that her kind-hearted senpai was actually in the Holy Grail War was keeping her up, and she couldn't sleep. As she made her way out of the guest bedroom that she was staying in, she realized that there was light coming out of the shed.

She cautiously made her way towards the shed. As she got close, she realized that the entrance to the shed was unlocked.

 _I-is someone trying to break into Senpai's shed?!_ Sakura thought to herself. She slowly entered, with the Matou absorption magecraft at the ready. Against a regular person, it would be more than enough-

"Who's there?!"

A Black Key flew past Sakura's face. She shrieked and fell forward as the unexpectedly fast attack made her stumble.

Gudako realized that her mama's horrific family curse struck as Sakura had somehow managed to fall into the summoning circle and knock Medusa's clothes out of the way right before the Quartz was consumed. Now all she could do was pray that her papa's stupid luck would overcome the curse.

Rin's curse of things going smoothly and flawlessly until the very last step, versus Shirou's ability to always get a favorable outcome despite how much he struggles to get there in the first place. Between an ages old family curse versus the unbelievable beginner's luck of a third-rate mage, which one would Gudako get?

Gudako's mind was going at a mile a minute as she quickly went through the list of possible summoning candidates from using Matou Sakura as a catalyst. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized... all of the Sakurafaces were extremely troublesome Servants!

Sakura looked up in fear as the light of the summoning died down.

"Alter-Ego of Love and Hate, Passionlip has arrived-"

Sakura looked next to her to see that she was nearly sandwiched between two gigantic metal claws. Looking up, she saw a girl with massive breasts sitting on top of the claws which were linked to her... arms? She blinked.

Passionlip looked down to see someone with a rather familiar looking face looking back up at them. They made eye contact.

Sakura fainted.

Passionlip just stared at Gudako in confusion.

Meanwhile, Gudako sighed in relief as she wiped away her sweat. Out of all of the Sakurafaces, she managed to roll the masochistic, easily-bullied, crybaby one! What a relief!


	16. Chapter 16

"Well... I wasn't really expecting you, but you'll do, I suppose."

"Ah, d-do you not need me anymore, Master?" Passionlip asked sadly.

"Eh? No, no, that wasn't what I meant at all. Don't worry, I will never throw you away." Gudako quickly assured the poor Alterego.

"I-is that so? I'm glad then..." Passionlip poked her huge blade-like fingers together nervously.

Gudako sighed. The poor girl still had terrible self esteem issues that could use some work. At least her time spent in Chaldea had lessened it somewhat, though she was still easily prone to (unintentional) bullying.

She picked up Sakura in a bridal carry and set her outside of the summoning circle. Passionlip stared at Sakura's unconscious face curiously.

"So this is the one we were all based on in the Moon Cell..." Passionlip said as she bent down a bit to get a better view. She wished to poke the girl but was afraid that she would crush her with her giant claws.

Gudako picked up Medusa's torn clothing and set it into the circle. Passionlip watched as her Master tried to roll with her remaining six Saint Quartz to no avail.

"M-my Quartz..." Gudako fell to her knees in despair. "Ah... it's no good. Looks like my luck has run out for tonight."

Gudako held up two copies of _**The Imaginary Element**_ , a Craft Essence featuring a picture of Matou Sakura on it. It allows for the Servant wielding it to instantly start off with 60% of their Noble Phantasm energy ready at the beginning of a battle.

"I-I'm sorry to hear that, Master."

"It's fine." Gudako snapped out of her momentary despair. "It's not what I was hoping for, but they're still useful. Here, why don't you hold onto this?" She held out a copy of the Craft Essence to Passionlip.

"Yes, thank you very much!" Passionlip replied as the Craft Essence was absorbed into her body.

Gudako nodded as she made her way over to where Sakura was. She channeled a little bit of prana to project a mattress and blankets and set Sakura down on it. Hopefully she wouldn't freak out too much when she woke up.

"Passionlip, wanna help me move some stuff around?"

"O-of course!"

With Passionlip's immense strength and detachable rocket arms, the process of clearing out the shed was a literal breeze. On Gudako's orders, she quickly placed everything into a neat pile in front of the door.

"See? Your hands don't have to be just for destroying stuff. You can use them to help build and organize things too." Gudako assured her as she proceeded to sort through the junk and make sure nothing important was hidden in the pile.

"Building things..." Passionlip stared at her bladed claws. "Yes, I'll continue to work hard, Master!"

Gudako smiled as the girl seemed to cheer up. She had Passionlip compress the extra junk into a large cube. Most of the trash was Shirou's failed attempts at reinforcement and alteration.

"Seriously, papa needs to stop leaving scrap metal laying around the place... one of these days, he's going to trip and hit his head."

"Papa? Who's that?"

"Oh, right, I haven't explained what's going on. We're in the Fifth Holy Grail War in Fuyuki right now, and I've been summoned by my papa as a Servant. Right now, we have Artoria Lily and Illya here too."

"Hmmm, I see. I don't really get what's going on, but I'll fight for you as always." Passionlip replied. She was a bit slow, but her Master never led her astray, so she would follow her to the ends of the Earth.

"We'll get you caught up in the daytime. For now we'll just sit around and watch Sakura-obaa-chan for now, I guess."

Gudako sat on the cube of junk while Passionlip sat on her giant metal hands as usual.

"This is so boring. Papa doesn't even have any proper equipment for his workshop. No wonder mama was so frustrated with him."

"Are you going to buy more things for the workshop?"

"Maybe. Or I could just ask mama if she has extra equipment laying around."

"Mama?"

"You know Ishtar and Ereshkigal? She's the vessel for those two."

"Oh! I-I hope she won't bully me too much."

"Eh, I doubt it. She's only interested in bullying papa, to be honest."

The two fell silent again as Gudako started tapping on her smartphone.

"What are you up to, Master?"

"I'm just making a list of furniture and stuff we need to buy for this shed. There's no point in wasting precious prana on projecting furniture if they'll just fade away eventually."

Passionlip just nodded as Gudako looked at her gem cache.

"These gems should be enough to last for a while... if only we were a bit closer to the leylines, I could try to make some more gems. Maybe we should attack Caster first, after all..." she mumbled to herself. "If only I had the equipment to make diamonds using science instead of magecraft, that would be so nice. But the equipment is way too expensive."

"Um... diamonds are formed when you apply a lot of pressure to carbon, right?" Passionlip asked nervously.

"Yeah, if you apply lots of heat and pressure, you can press carbon into diamonds."

"Well, about that..." Passionlip stared at her hands.

"Oh. _Oh."_ Gudako quickly understood what she was implying.

* * *

Sakura woke up with a start as she heard excited shouting nearby.

"Yes! It actually works! Passionlip, you're a genius."

"D-do you really think so?" Passionlip asked meekly.

"Yeah, you're really amazing!"

"A-ah, I'm very glad..."

 _ ***five minutes earlier***_

Gudako raided the entire house for pencils and pencil leads, coal, and whatever pieces of carbon she could scrounge up.

After returning to the shed, she pulled out a ruby and had Passionlip hold it between her hands. With a quick command, all of the magical energy within the ruby was expelled as pure heat, making her metallic hands glow red hot.

She threw all of the graphite into Passionlip's hands and cast a small barrier around them as Passionlip used her Trash and Crash skill to apply ungodly amounts of pressure between her hands.

Passionlip pulled her cooling hands apart to reveal a diamond. It was small, it was filled with impurities, and it was shaped like a cube, but it was undoubtedly a diamond.

"I-I made this?"

"You made this!"

"I-I made something!" Passionlip cheered as Gudako very carefully gave her a high-five.

 ** _*back to the present*_**

"Hey, look, obaa-chan is up!"

Sakura took one look at Passionlip and fell off of her mattress with a squeak.

"I-is she scared of me? Maybe I should hide..."

"No, there's no need to do that, Passionlip. We should probably explain what's going on. She was bound to find out sooner or later anyways."

Sakura just looked at them both in confusion.

"Seriously, it's kind of amazing how papa never noticed that you were a magus, even though you come over all the time."

Sakura visibly flinched at being found out.

"P-papa? What do you mean?"

"Oh, Shirou is my papa."

"Eh?"

"Um, we should probably start from the beginning."

Gudako snapped her fingers, and in an instant Artoria and Illya appeared in their default outfits.

"You called us, Master?" Artoria asked.

"N-no way, you're all Servants?" Sakura stammered. "What are you all doing in Senpai's house?"

"Oh, did Sakura find out?" Illya asked.

"Yeah, it was pure bad luck, but she did. We might as well all introduce ourselves right now." Gudako replied.

"I'll go first then. I am Saber, Artoria Pendragon, King of Knights."

"I'm Illyasviel von Einzbern, a Caster. I don't really have a fancy title like the King of Knights or anything like that... u-unless being a Magical Girl counts?"

"I-I'm Passionlip, of the Alterego class. I'm sorry if sharing your face offends you, please don't be angry..."

"And those three are my current Servants." Gudako finished.

"T-three Servants at once?! B-but even if you drain people, it would be impossible to sustain three Servants without getting noticed!"

"No, I'm not draining or killing anyone. I'm a Master-class Servant, and Papa is my Master. That's why I can handle all of these Servants with no problems."

"E-eh?"

"I have a skill that hides my presence as a Servant from most people, so I should probably introduce myself properly."

Gudako cleared her throat before continuing.

"Most people know me as Fujimaru Ritsuka, but my actual name is Emiya-Tohsaka Ritsuka. I guess my parents couldn't decide which one to give me so they just used both. Hehe."

"You're from the future, and Emiya-senpai is your actual father?" Gudako replied with a nod. "Tohsaka... then that means your mother is...!"

"Yup, Tohsaka Rin is my mama."


	17. Chapter 17

_**Today's update is split into 2 parts. This is part 1.**_

* * *

"Yup, Tohsaka Rin is my mama."

 _Yup, Tohsaka Rin is my mama._

 _Tohsaka Rin is my mama._

 _Tohsaka Rin._

 _Rin._

 _Rin._

 _rin_

 _rin_

 _RIN_

 ** _RIN._**

"Ufufu. I see. I never had a chance from the very beginning, did I? But nee-san is always so wonderful, _so perfect._ No wonder Senpai would choose her, not when there's no reason to pick a filthy girl like me."

Sakura gave a hollow and sorrowful chuckle as the air around her seemed to blacken.

"Um, is your aunt Sakura supposed to spawn black tendrils?" Illya asked nervously while Artoria prepared Caliburn.

Passionlip curiously tried to poke at one of the dark tendrils. Strangely enough, the tendril appeared to recoil in horror when Passionlip got close.

"Eh? But I wasn't finished talking yet." Gudako complained. "And why does Sakura-obaa-chan smell like Angra Mainyu?"

Having inherited Shirou's trait of sniffing out magic, she could identify Servants by smell if all else failed. Angra Mainyu, in particular, had a smell that stuck out like a sore thumb. It was hard to ignore the smell of pure suffering, after all.

 _Wait, is that why all the Avengers insist on following me when I go to the summoning room? Those meanies!_ Gudako thought to herself.

"Ahem, anyways." Gudako just kept talking like nothing was happening. A few Avenger-class tendrils were nowhere enough to faze her after what she's been through. "The five of us lived peacefully in papa's house."

The black tendrils stopped. "Five?"

Gudako counted on her fingers. "Me, you, papa, mama, and Gudao-kun. Papa and mama are married, you and papa are also married. Mama said something about magi ignoring the rules."

Dark Sakura froze. "Me and senpai...married? Nee-san and senpai are also married?"

It was utterly mind-boggling to her.

"And w-who's Gudao-kun?"

"Oh, Gudao-kun is a nickname for my brother. His name is also Ritsuka, papa said someone messed up on the birth certificates or something so we both have the exact same name. I don't know why but everyone decided to keep the names."

"W-what?" By now, the shadows around Sakura had all melted away as she was completely focused on listening to Gudako.

"So Gudako-chan, which is me, and Gudao-kun are mama and papa's children. Papa said you had trouble getting pregnant so we don't have any half siblings yet." Gudako explained, making Sakura blush.

"I also overheard mama say that you three had to try baby-making every day. I don't really get it, but it sounds like it was hard." Gudako added.

Artoria, Illya, and Passionlip had a full-body blush, while Sakura looked like she was about to faint.

"B-B-Baby-making with S-senpai...and with nee-san at the same time?!"

"I-I think you broke her..." Passionlip commented as Sakura seemed to be drowning in her own imagination.

"Oh, I should have told that to mama and papa too. I'll tell them after they get out of school so mama Sakura doesn't have to feel left out."

"Mama Sakura?"

"Well you and papa are also married so you count as our other mama. We just call you obaa-chan in public."

"I-I see." Sakura stuttered.

"Yup, you three are...um, what was that word?"

Ruby appeared next to Illya and shouted, "The word you're looking for is polygamist!"

Gudako clapped her hands in realization. "Oh, that's right! You, mama, and papa are a bunch of polygamists!"

Sakura fainted.

"You really hold no punches, Master." Artoria sighed as she looked at the girl on the ground.

"Don't worry, I just have to put obaa-chan in bed with papa and she will be alright again." Gudako said as she picked Sakura up and walked towards the door.

"Er, I don't think it works like that."

"Huh? Of course it does, whenever mama Sakura or mama Rin are stressed, they just go into the bedroom with papa and they come out all happy and smiling."

"I-" Artoria raised a finger, then paused and blushed. Gudako was obviously misunderstanding something very important, but how do you even begin to explain that sort of thing to a nine-year-old?

"Besides, I need to go ask mama Rin why mama Sakura smells like Angra Mainyu."

"Huh, that's a good question. Why would Sakura smell like Angra Mainyu?" Illya pondered out loud, getting a shrug from Passionlip.

* * *

"Mmmhhh..."

Sakura groaned as she slowly started to wake up. _Just a few more minutes_ _..._ she thought to herself as she wrapped her arms and legs around the nice big teddy bear next to her.

"So warm..." she muttered as she pressed closer.

 _Wait a minute..._

Her eyes opened to see Emiya Shirou's sleeping face up close.

"W-w-w-wha?!"

Sakura was frozen in place as she tried to comprehend what was going on. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't able to comprehend what was happening and she fainted.

Gudako came into the room to see that Sakura was completely out and Shirou was still asleep.

 _Guess I'll make breakfast,_ Gudako thought to herself as she went towards the kitchen.

She cooked up some simple breakfast. As she was about to finish, she felt Taiga's presence through the Bounded Field surrounding the property.

 _Papa, time to wake up!_ she yelled through her mental connection. She faintly heard a yelp and a shriek coming from the bedroom.


	18. Chapter 18 - Memories

**This is part 2 of today's update.**

* * *

"Morning, Shirou!" An older Rin, with her hair down instead of having it tied into her twin-tails, appeared.

"Good morning, dear."

An older version of Shirou, with patches of white hair and tan skin, kissed the older Rin on the lips.

"Good morning, Shirou!" An older Sakura also appeared as she greeted Shirou.

Shirou turned and kissed Sakura in response.

"Morning to you too, Sakura." Shirou said with a smile.

"Papa, I'm hungry!"

"I'm hungry too!"

A young girl with orange hair, a strange cowlick on her head, and golden eyes was sitting next to a boy with black hair and blue eyes. This was Ritsuka and Ritsuka, the two sharing identical names due to some bizarre clerical error at birth.

The happy family of five ate breakfast cheerfully. It was a lively affair, and both Rin and Sakura doted over the children. One could easily envision Sakura doing that sort of thing, but most people wouldn't expect Rin to be the sort of magus mother that would dote over her children, who knew she would turn out like that?

"Are you two ready for school? Make sure you have all of your things ready." Rin asked the two children.

"Yes, mama." They both replied in unison as they got their backpacks on. They both had one of the Tohsaka pendants on them, probably as a good luck charm of sorts. One of them was Rin's own pendant, the other one was the copy from Archer.

"Be safe, you two! Remember to watch out for suspicious priests!" Sakura shouted as the two left through the front door. The two children waved to the adults before they made their way towards the school.

"Ritsuka-kun, is there supposed to be a big circle in the sky?" Gudako asked while she pulled on her brother's sleeve.

"I don't think so, Ritsuka-chan. What is that?" Gudao replied.

Suddenly, the world burned. Uncountable rays of pure heat rained down onto the Earth, burning the entire city. The two children ran screaming back to the Emiya estate while trying to dodge fire and explosions.

All around the city, the two children could see and hear people scream in agony as they were set alight and completely incinerated. This was just like the Fuyuki fire from a decade ago. No, this was way worse, it wasn't just a small section of a city that was burned away. This time, the entirety of human civilization was being set alight and turned into raw heat.

This was literally Hell.

"Oh my gosh, my babies!"

Rin came running towards the front door and ushered the two crying children inside, uncaring for her own safety.

"Nee-san, what's going on?!" Sakura shouted frantically.

"I don't know! I need to get the Jeweled Sword...!"

"We don't have time!" Shirou interjected. "I'll just make one right now! Sakura, help me out!"

"Yes, Shirou!" Sakura unleashed strange black tendrils from her body and wrapped them around Shirou's arms, directly pumping prana into him.

"Trace on!"

A beautiful sword seemingly composed completely of jewels formed in his hands. Rin quickly grabbed it and prepared to use the Second Magic as Sakura summoned more tendrils to wrap around Rin's body as well.

"Hyahhhhh!" Rin screamed as she swing the sword down. With Sakura's immense prana supply and the infinite magical energy pulled with the Kaleidoscope, Rin was able to tear a hole in reality, though without the time to prepare any proper ritual, she had no idea where it would lead to. She could only hope that her children would be safe, wherever they would end up.

"You two, hurry and get in there!" Rin motioned for her children to go into the portal.

"What about you, mama?!" Gudao yelled.

"We'll figure something out! Hurry, before it's too late!"

Shirou ended up grabbing the two by the collar and threw them into the rift.

"Papa, mama, obaa-chan!" Gudako screamed as the two of them were sucked inside.

"We'll definitely come for you! We love you!" The three adults yelled as the world went white.

* * *

"Fou, fou?"

Mashu Kyrielight came upon a strange sight. In the middle of the hallway lay two young children, one of them with bright orange hair like the sun, the other had hair as black as night. Snuggled between the two was Fou, who was licking at their faces.

The two children slowly woke up as Fou licked at their faces, and they froze when they made eye contact with Mashu.

"Um... hello there. It's time to wake up, you'll catch a cold if you sleep in the middle of the hallway."

Mashu had no experience in interacting with young children, so she wasn't really sure what to say.

"O-oh. Where's papa and mama?" Gudako asked.

Papa and mama. Mashu knew that the terms referred to parental figures, although she had never used the terms herself. Why were these children looking for their parents? Why were they even here? Chaldea was no place for children. Did they have parents that worked here as technicians?

"Who are you?" Gudao asked.

Mashu was caught off guard by the question.

"I'm Mashu Kyrielight."

Mashu found herself surprised by how easily her words came out. Usually she was much more reserved when it came to talking with strangers, and yet she could talk to these two children with complete confidence.

"Um, you two...why were you sleeping on the cold, hard, floor, if I may ask?"

The two siblings looked at each other. "We don't know." Gudako replied. They stared at Mashu with innocent curiosity.

"What's this?" Gudao asked as he hugged Fou. "He's so fluffy and he barks."

"That's Fou. He's a privileged life-form that's allowed to roam Chaldea. I was looking for him before he stumbled upon you two. He seems to have taken a liking to the both of you." Mashu replied with a smile.

"There you are, Mashu. Wandering around the facility won't do, you know." A man in a green suit and a top hat came around the corner. This was Professor Lev Lainur, the head technician of Chaldea. "Oh, and who might these two be?"

"Oh, I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka." Gudao introduced himself with the name Fujimaru like mama and papa told him to. "And this is my sister, Fujimaru Ritsuka."

"Huh, you both have the same name?" Mashu asked.

"It was an accident." Gudako explained. "We never bothered to change our names, but we're used to it."

"Hmm, I see." Lev replied. "And what were you two doing before you got here? Your names aren't recorded in our databases at all."

"The world was on fire." Gudako said, visibly making the Professor flinch. "We ran and our papa and mama sent us here."

Upon closer inspection, the two children were wearing what seemed to be burnt school uniforms.

Lev coughed to hide his distress. "Anyways, we can't just leave these two alone. What were they up to when you found them, Mashu?"

"Ah, I found the two of them sleeping on the ground right here."

"In that case, why don't you show them to the empty room across from the infirmary? We were not anticipating so many people in Chaldea, so they will have to share a room."

"Y-yes, Professor, I'll be right on it."

"Go ahead and give them one of the Chaldean Mystic Codes from storage while you're at it. If they don't have one in their size, have one of the magi alter one to fit them. We can't have them running around in burnt clothing, after all."

"O-of course! Come with me, you two, we'll make sure to take care of you, okay?"

Gudao let go of Fou, and the two children grabbed on to each of Mashu's hands, much to her surprise.

"Okay, kouhai, lead the way." Gudako declared.

"Huh? Why am I the kouhai?" Mashu asked.

"Because you have purple hair just like obaa-chan does." Gudao replied.

"I'm not sure I follow, but I'll try to live up to your expectations. Alright, senpais, follow me."

* * *

One thing Mashu learned really quickly was that children liked to talk _a lot_. After a quick run to the Chaldean storage to pick up a Mystic Code uniform for the both of them, she asked the two children about their family, which quickly spiraled into a speech about how "mama is an awesome magus" (pretty typical), "papa can do cool tricks" (whatever that meant), and "obaa-chan has infinite prana" (she was pretty sure they were just exaggerating). They didn't have the haughtiness or arrogance that most magi and their children exhibited, however, making her wonder who their parents were and how they were trained as magi.

They also had an iron-clad belief that their parents were going to come eventually and pick them up.

"Mama said they would come for us, so we'll wait here until they do." Gudako said.

"Don't worry, we can always ask the Mage Association to help you two out." Mashu replied.

The two children looked at each other strangely when the Association was mentioned, though Mashu couldn't figure out why.

Eventually they made it to their assigned room across from the infirmary. Mashu pressed some buttons on the keypad and the door slid open. She was surprised to see that the lights were already on.

Sitting on the bed was a man with peach-colored hair tied up into a ponytail. He was staring intently at a laptop while eating a slice of cake.

" _Ahem_ , Doctor."

"I wasn't slacking!" The Doctor shot up and quickly closed his laptop, which still had Magi*Mari's page on the screen. Mashu glared at him while the two children just laughed.

"Eh, where'd you get the two kids from? Don't tell me you did this and that while I wasn't looking?!"

"These two are both Fujimaru Ritsuka. They appeared in Chaldea all of a sudden with no explanation." Mashu quickly cut the Doctor off.

"I'm Doctor Romani! Nice to meet you both. You're both named Ritsuka?" Romani asked, eliciting a nod from the two. "Very well then, until we figure out what to do with you two, we'll be sure to take good care of you, okay?"

"Doctor, can I leave the two of them in here with you? The Director wants me to go to the Rayshift orientation and I can't just leave them alone." Mashu said.

"Well... alright. Just fill me in on the details later, okay?"

Mashu nodded. "Be good and stay with the Doctor, okay?"

"Okay. Bye bye, kouhai." the two of them replied, making Mashu blush as she left. Romani looked at the scene curiously. Having raised and cared for Mashu since she was created, he's never seen her act that way towards anyone, so it was surprising that she would bond with a pair of kids so easily.

Gudao noticed a little cake sitting on next to the cooler built into the wall.

"Can we have cake too, Doctor Rome?"

* * *

Romani now had two hyperactive children running around the room after feeding them cake and hot chocolate. They were either running around and examining the room curiously or bombarding him with questions.

"Hey, hey, are you a science doctor or a magic doctor?" Gudao asked.

"Well, I can be both. But regardless, it's still important to know medical science, right? Everyone uses technology in this day and age."

"Too bad mama sucks at technology." Gudako complained. "She still doesn't know how to use the blu-ray player. Papa said it's been years."

"At least papa knows how to use technology. Mama's family is so old-fashioned, they didn't even use phones." Gudao replied.

"Doctor Rome, how is your hair so fluffy?" Gudako asked while pulling on his ponytail.

"Ow, please don't pull my hair. I use the specially formulated shampoo made by the famous Da Vinci herself! When we have time later, I'll take you two down to meet her, okay?"

"Doctor Rome, is Professor Lev actually an evil mage guy?" Gudao asked.

"I'm pretty sure he isn't. Why would you think that?"

"I dunno, his outfit totally makes his shadiness level at MAX. And papa and mama always tell us to watch out for shady people." Gudao replied.

"Doctor Rome, were you slacking off in this room when no one was looking?" Gudako asked.

"Hrk...! No, I was just taking my regularly scheduled break. Being the head of the medical facility is a stressful job, you know?!"

"Doctor Rome, are you from Rome?" Gudao asked.

"Haha, no, I'm not from Rome, though I can see why you might think that. I'm actually from Israel."

"Ooh. Where's Israel?"

"Well, Israel is a small country next to the Mediterranean Sea..."

Suddenly, the small wrist-mounted communicator that Romani had started ringing.

"Yo, Lev. What is it?"

"Romani. The Rayshift is beginning shortly. The A-team is fine, but the B-team has a few minor issues since they aren't used to Rayshifting. Can you come down here?"

"Oh, would you like me to anesthetize them?"

"Yes, that would be preferred. You're in the medical office, right? You should be able to make it down here in two minutes."

"Okay, I'll be there."

"Don't be late."

The call disconnected and Romani turned back to the two kids.

"Oh, were you talking to the evil mage guy?" Gudako asked.

"Haha, yeah I was. I have to go down to the central control room soon and do some Doctor stuff, you know?"

Romani still wasn't sure why the two children insisted on referring to Lev as the "evil mage guy". It was probably a kid thing, who knows.

"But this isn't the medical office, right?" Gudao asked.

"W-well, being a few minutes late won't hurt, right? Anyways, I enjoyed talking with you two. After the mission, come see me in my office across from here and I'll give you some more delicious cake, okay?"

The two siblings cheered, making Romani smile.

Suddenly, the lights went out as the sound of alarms could be heard outside of the room.

 _ **Emergency. Fires have broken out in the central power plant and control room.**_

"Fires?!" _Olga-marie, Mashu!_ Romani quickly stood up, paying no attention to the cake and hot chocolate that he knocked to the floor.

"D-doctor, what's going on? Is kouhai okay?" Gudako asked nervously.

"I-I'm sure she's fine. The weather gets a bit rough up here sometimes, you know? I'm the doctor, so I have to go check on them real quick. The two of you should stay in here, okay?" Romani gave a forced smile as he quickly threw on his jacket and left the room.

 _Shit._ he thought to himself as he ran down the smoke-filled corridors. He had to quickly make his way down to one of the control rooms and make sure that everything was working. The fact that there was smoke meant the system wasn't putting out the fires at all.

He was so focused on his mission that he didn't notice two small children following him.

* * *

Mashu knew she was going to die. Everyone died eventually, it was a fact of life. She just had the dubious benefit of knowing exactly when it would happen. After all, her lifespan was already set from the day she was created. Unfortunately, life has a tendency to throw curveballs at you, such as dropping massive chunks of rubble and crushing your entire lower body.

She sighed in relief as the screams of pain stopped. The last several minutes were pure torture as she heard the sounds of screaming as people were burned or had parts of their bodies blown off by explosions. At least now, she could close her eyes and pass on to the afterlife peacefully.

 _Ritsuka siblings, I'm sorry I won't be seeing you again. I pray that Doctor Romani kept you both far, far away from here._

"Kouhai!"

"Fou, kyu!"

Mashu's eyes shot open and she looked in horror as she saw the two children and Fou run into the centrol control room. She started crying as she watched them step over burned bodies and puddles of blood in an effort to reach her.

"No! You two need to... to get out of here!" Mashu coughed up blood as she tried to shout at the children.

The two Ritsukas tried to lift the block of rubble to no avail. There was no way that two kids would be able to move such a huge block.

"Please... run..." Mashu's tears wouldn't stop as she weakly tried to get them to leave her.

 _ **The survival of the human race for the next 100 years cannot be confirmed. The future of humanity cannot be guaranteed.**_

"No... Chaldeas is..."

 _ **Central bulkhead will now be sealed.**_

The area was completely sealed off as metal doors slid down.

"Ah, you two... I'm sorry." Mashu weakly apologized.

The twins shook their head.

"It's okay, I'm sure we'll get out of this somehow." Gudao declared confidentially.

 _ **Seeking qualified Masters... seeking...**_

 _Even to the end, you two are still so strong,_ Mashu thought to herself as the both of them held her hand.

"I wish... I could have seen the sky outside."

Gudako looked at Gudao. "It's always snowing up here, right?"

"Don't worry, we'll take you outside one of these days."

"Just leave it to us!"

 _ **Setting contract with two unregistered Masters.**_

Mashu could feel her consciousness slipping away.

"Ah... that makes me happy."

The flames burned even hotter as the building started to collapse.

 _ **Starting Unsummon Program.**_

 _ **Beginning Spiritron conversion.**_

 _ **Rayshift beginning in 3...2...1...**_

* * *

"Ah!" Shirou woke up with a start.

"That... that was a dream..." Shirou couldn't keep his hands from trembling towards the end of that dream.

 _No, that wasn't just a dream. It was definitely a memory!_

For his daughter to go through such a thing, he didn't even know what to think.


End file.
